Warm Life Cold Spirit
by Crescent Zenith
Summary: A child of tainted blood secludes himself, despising the world, and wishes to change what can't be undone.
1. Chapter 1  Human Mistakes

This is my first post here on this site and would love to have some constructive critisim done to my work.

**Note:** There are characters who are from the original cast of Chrono Crusade who I do not own; This is a spin off the original anime/manga series.

Now to the story...

* * *

Sister Azmaria pulled up the long dirt road seated in the convent's uniform black ford contemplating what she had been told by the soon to be retiring Sister Kate.

_"Now that things are starting to calm down a bit it seems that everything maybe falling into place. Unfortunately it took the lives of the most giving people that we knew to attain this state of stability, but for now, thanks to them the threat of an apocalypse has faded from our horizons." the woman paused heaving a heavy sigh before continuing, "there are now sings of yet another mounting threat on our hands for another with stigmada was found as a mere infant who was taken back to headquarters in San Francisco. That was about 11 years ago as you know Sister Azmaria, the day that you found young Renos._

_I believe that you should go see him in the orphanage and bring him to see the child with stigmada, they might have an effect to one another because of what he is."_

_"But Sister Kate..."_

_"Now, now, Sister Azmaria. I know that you've missed him tremendously over the past six years. Don't be ashamed of it, you have always cared about others, why should this be any different?" she said with a warm smile that the said Sister Azmaria hadn't expected. "Your orders are to pick up Renos at the Seventh Bell Orphanage and bring him to San Francisco Headquarters. I've already made the necessary preparations. So get going!"_

Azmaria looked around remembering when she had last come to this very same place to leave Renos behind. He didn't cry like she thought he would instead he just stared at her with an icy gaze that threatened to shatter her heart for he had never look at her so coldly. Normally he was either very happy or very sad but thinking back to then, she realized just how distant his gaze had been and fresh tears ran down her cheeks like a silent brook. Now looking up at the large wooded cabin with children running about, she dried her tears and pulled the ford to a stop and got out silently heading for the building's door. Just as she raised her hand to knock an old woman greeted her warmly welcoming her into the wooded building. The woman escorted the young Sister into a room furnished with two well worn sofas conveniently placed around a rectangular coffee table, offering her a seat the woman left for but a moment to retrieve a tray of freshly prepared tea.

"We weren't expecting you until later." commented the woman while placing the tea tray down on the table as she took a seat just opposite of Sister Azmaria.

"I'm sorry Ms. Jean. I just had to come as early as time would allow, it's just that I couldn't wait to see Renos after so long." replied the Sister as she graciously accepted a cup of hot tea taking a sip. Ms. Jean chuckled softly, a comforting smile upon her lips.

"It's quite alright dear." The woman's words brought a shy blush to her pale cheeks as she averted her gaze by staring at the cup in her hands.

* * *

"It's so tranquil here..." whispered a boy breathlessly into the ever present breezes. He rolled onto his stomach and looked at the lake just below him. His light blond hair was falling out of the wrap around his hip length hair. "Why can't the world just be at peace with itself? Always quarreling over the most pitious of things such as land, religion, race and power." he released another sigh before allowing himself to take in his reflection upon the water's surface, he scowled and swatted it with his hand not wanting to have to see his eyes that had witnessed hatred at its worst. Slowly he sat up on the ledge and turned around to look at a old tomb he had explored numerous times to find an escape from the world around him, that he loathed so much. His thoughts were interrupted by the one person running up to him that he could ever possibly consider anything close to a friend despite the large difference in their ages. His name, was Joshua.

"Hey Renos they're looking for you up at the orphanage." he called as pointed at the hills behind him. "The Sister arrived a little early, she said that she missed you." he paused for a moment to contemplate something, "I think that called herself Sister Azmaria, do you know her?" inquired one of the oldest residents at the orphanage. Renos' eyes widened at the mere mention of the name and jumped to his feet.

"Are you sure that was her name?"

"Uh, yeah I'm positive." he said protectively crossing his arms over his chest, "so you do know her then, isn't she the one who originally dropped you off here?" The thought knocked the air from Renos' lungs in unwanted realization, she had left him there.

'Why did she come back all of these years later and want to see me? If you leave someone at an orphanage the ones that had left them there never came back to get them unless there was a catch.' He cringed at his thoughts and left Joshua at the edge of the lake staring quizzically at the spot the boy had vacated, for in his place a object glimmered in the sun's rays. Joshua picked it up cautiously in his finger tips holding it up to the sun to inspect it fully before turning to look up the path that Renos had run up on moments before.

* * *

Slowly he trudged up the last rugged terrain of the hills to the orphanage in which he was a resident. To be honest deep down he did miss Sister Azmaria, but he just couldn't bring himself to forgive her for having given him up in the first place, it had hurt him so much when he had watched her black ford disappear from sight down the dirt path that lead to the out of the way building. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and took in a deep breath of the fresh air from the mountains close by allowing himself to relax. He was now approaching the clearing where the orphanage stood, and glanced at the old ford parked on the dirt road.

"I remember that car.." he said as he recalled having last ridden in one a little over six years ago. This memory brought back his dark thoughts that had clouded his mind earlier, he made no attempt to rid himself of them.

"There you are Renos everyone's been looking for you, Sister Azmaria's here and has been waiting." stated John, one of the helpers of the old caretaker Ms. Jean. Renos just gave him a passing glance that lasted too long for John even though it was the usual way that the boy had greeted anyone was with that ice cold stare. 'Geez that kid scares me when he does that, though he's always been like that with everybody except...Josh...' he thought once Renos had entered the threshold of the logged orphanage.

* * *

"I wonder where Renos could have wandered off to that it would take so long to find him."

"It's alright I'm sure he'll appear sooner or later." reassured Sister Azmaria. At that moment the door opened and Renos silently walked into the entertainment portion of the living room in which both Sister Azmaria and Ms. Jean wee seated comfortably while drinking a cup of tea.

"See Ms. Jean." said the Sister quite cheerfully as she placed her empty cup down on the coffee table.

"Yes, I had a feeling that you might be." laughed Ms. Jean, "now Renos where have you been dear?" she queried while pouring herself another cup of tea from her well worn kettle. When she heard no response she looked up at him, he returned her stare.

"Renos that is no way to behave. Answer her question." scolded Sister Azmaria with a raised finger.

"No, no. It's quite alright, to be honest with you Sister Azmaria I haven't heard that boy say a word since he came here, nor have I even been luck enough to have seen a smile on his face even once." she slouched she shoulders as she looked down at hr cup for a moment letting out an exhausted sigh, "I'm quite used to his silence," she looked back up at Renos and said, "you don't need to answer the question for me. It's your choice alone that will allow you to speak to me when the time is right." she gave Renos a gentle smile and simply asked, "do you remember Sister Azmaria?" Renos took a quick glance at the Sister and nodded his acknowledgment.

"That's good. Well she was going to take you to the in San Francisco branch to meet somebody, what do you think?" she asked before taking a sip of her tea. Once more she received no answer, she made a gesture for the boy to take a seat next to her which he silently obeyed. "Heheheh." laughed the woman as she ruffled his hair, receiving an annoyed glance from him making Azmaria giggle childishly, "now Renos why don't you go and pack your things. Arrangements have already been made by Sister Kate." He stood up fixed his his hair and headed for the foyer where a flight of stairs lead to the upper portions of the building's interior.

"'The arrangements have already been made...'" he murmured as he closed the door to his room, he stared at its barrenness before taking measured steps over to his bed. Getting down on his hands and knees he stuck his hand underneath dragging out a small suitcase coated in a thick layer of dust from the lack of use of the years. 'What am I, an object to be won, to be claimed, even fought over?' he thought after heaving the bag onto his bed and opening the clutch. 'Humans are so primal, always wanting things whether or not they have to kill to get it. It's disgusting to think that I'm part of them, a half of their kind.' He threw the top open and moved to his dresser to retrieve what outfits that filled its drawers. 'As for Sister Azmaria, I won't question what I'm told...I have no need to do so.' Despite his thoughts he packed the remaining few things that he had in his possession into his suitcase. Once his task was completed he closed the bag and took a firm hold on its handle lifting it easily off his bed. He headed for the door to his room putting his hand on the doorknob and with a simple twist it opened, he turned around to look at his room one last time before finally slamming the door shut behind him. Some of the other children that were still inside wondered into the hall to explore the sound of the noise, standing outside his door was Renos who when he notice their glances returned each with a relentless glare as he made his way over to the staircase on his way downstairs.

Looking over at the threshold leading to the foyer the Sister spotted young Renos with suitcase in hand, "My that was fast. I was just about to help Ms. Jean start up dinner." commented Sister Azmaria. Ms. Jean patted the good Sister's arm and looked at her with a gentle smile.

"No dear girl I'll manage just fine so take this little snack for the ride," she said offering a paper bag that wafted with sweet smells, "after all you have a long ways to go to get to San Francisco from Michigan. There's no time to waste." stated Ms. Jean gently pushing Azmaria over to the boy.

"I guess if you insist Ms. Jean." said Azmaria as she was lead out through the foyer, she paused just outside her car and turned around. "Take care now!" she called. Sister Azmaria went to take Renos' bag but he pulled it just out of her reach and headed for the back of the vehicle opening the back by himself and placed his suitcase next to the one that he guessed was hers before closing it. Renos glanced grudgingly in Azmaria's direction and headed into the passenger seat in the front of the vehicle. Ignoring the look that the boy had given her she waved good bye to the orphanage caretaker and hoped into the driver's seat fastening her seat-belt she flashed a smile at Renos before starting up the car. Effortlessly she gently placed her foot on the gas pedal and eased the vehicle down the dirt path that she had arrived on. By now some of the children had come out front to watch the pair leave, some were grateful that he was departing others could careless but had enough manners to come out anyway. Azmaria glanced back at the group and smiled Renos on the other hand kept his eyes glued to the scenery passing by outside his window until he heard someone shouting behind them. Prying himself away from the window he turned to see who was causing such an uproar, a person was pushing through the crowd that had formed and was shouting but his words were incoherent due to the distance. It was Joshua, once he had broken through the crowd he began chasing the ford waving something that glimmered in the light in his hand. After chasing the car for a brief time he began to slow to a halt watching as the car drove off while he stood trying to catch his breath. Sister Azmaria watched the boy from the corner of her eye as he stared back at someone she was familiar with, Joshua. She looked in her rear view mirror to see that the person had stopped giving chase as he caught his breath, he looked up and raised his hand in a sort of salute. Azmaria turned her attention back to the dirt path ahead of her, off to her right she heard a quiet whisper.

"Goodbye, friend.." the near inaudible words left the boy's lips seamlessly as he turned to face the front of the car sparing a glance at the Sister apparently not caring whether she had heard him or not.

* * *

The vehicle was nearly silent with only the sound of the tires in the rough terrain being the only sound preventing a pure silence as the pair drove through the wooded countryside of Michigan. Sister Azmaria wasn't fond of the only sound keeping the silence at bay, she hadn't so much as even noticed it on her drive there but now that she was with the person that she had missed taking care of over the years she longed for a conversation and spoke up.

"So how have you been lately?" she queried looking at him long enough to receive a single glance as his response before he went back to gazing out his window. Pretending that she hadn't just been given the cold shoulder she waited a little longer for an answer that didn't come. The lack of a response was unnerving to her, it made her think about how in the past there had been times when words weren't spoken when they were most needed and so she spoke again. This time her voice wasn't so sweet as it was in her usual demeanor to be, instead it could be called accusing.

"So you're going to give me the silent treatment are you? Fine, I can play that game," retorted Sister Azmaria, with brief contemplation she let her tone of voice lighten up, "lets have a competition, whoever can keep the quietest until we get to the train station wins." she didn't remove her eyes from the road as she spoke. Once more there was no speaking from either of the two especially Renos. The boy had allowed his eyes to rove in the direction of Sister Azmaria but made no motion to let her know that he had heard what he had though to be one of the most ridiculous things she had said thus far. With his chin resting in his palm as he continued to stare out the window.

'What kind of joke is this?' he mused his face expressing boredom, 'I don't like games.'

'Well whether of not he heard me I guess it doesn't really matter because there's no way I'm going to get him to speak any time soon.' she thought with a sigh, 'oh well, at least I'll be able to think of this as a game.' She shifted in her seat, "and so the game begins." she murmured just loud enough for the boy to hear. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye to see him simply shrug not even bothering himself to turn around and acknowledge her. Her eyes back on the road she slouched she shoulders, 'this is going to be a long ride.'

'Now you've really got to be kidding me.' thought the boy glaring at the innocent trees that they passed as they drove, 'with her trying to start a conversation earlier I know that she was trying to get me to talk, and now a quiet contest..' he cast a look over his shoulder, 'she must like it being so quiet so she feels the need to ease the tension by setting up a a fake game of being quiet.' he mused a scowl twisted into being on his countenance, 'how pathetic.' he brought his gaze back to the tree line, 'and to think that I had looked up to her at one point in time, it's hard to believe.' Neither made a single sound, never mind speak making it far more quiet than it had originally been, even the the sound of the tires on the rough dirt path couldn't keep the silence from ensuing. The sun rose to high noon, Sister Azmaria pulled the car over to the side of the road and opened the bag that Ms. Jean had given them for snacks. Renos turned to give the Sister questioning glance to find himself answered by her actions and turned to look away when he felt a light pressure on his shoulder. Sister Azmaria was nudging him with her free hand and offering him one Ms. Jean' snacks in the other, that was when the smell reached his nose and found that he couldn't refuse; Taking a quick look at Azmaria who was smiling he reached out only for it to be pulled away from him, in turn Renos glared at her. She simply snickered and picked up the bag she took a moment to fish out a piece of paper and handed it to the boy instead of the snack. He was by no means amused but decided to read what had been scrawled on the scrap of paper.

_'Dear Renos,_

_I'm not one to pull pranks on anyone especially children but I want to make things a little easier for Azmaria. Don't blame her this was entirely my idea..._

'What!?'

_...I have set a rule on these snacks. To be able to have them you have to..._

'No way!' he exclaimed mentally as he glared at the paper.

_...speak. Signed Ms. Jean.' _

He lifted his eyes from the paper and glared at Sister Azmaria who now grinning from ear to ear, "looks like the game's off." she reached into the bag again and pulled out a snack and offered it to the boy. "So do you want some?" she asked. At this Renos crumpled the paper and tossed it into the back of the car, he folded his arms and turned his back to her with a grunt. "No, huh? Oh well." Azmaria innocently took a bite of what looked to be a crumpet, "mmmmm..these are good. Are you sure you don't want one?" she asked again, the boy shot her a glare over his shoulder, "fine more for me." she she rebuked shoving the crumpet in her mouth. 'I actually thought that he was going to break the ice and finally talk, but even with that rule put in place by Ms. Jean he still isn't saying anything.' she sighed before digging around in the bag again for another treat. The scent of the baked goods was torture enough without having to listen to the rustling of the bag again, it was at a time like this that he wished that his sense of smell wasn't so strong for then he just might be able to avoid the temptation of submitting.

'I didn't even think that Ms. Jean had it in her to pull off something like this, the old coot.' he thought to himself. By now Azmaria had eaten her fill of two of the snacks and tucked the bag away sure that he wasn't going to be speaking anytime soon. 'Damn it, I can still smell them!' Sister Azmaria had already put on her seat belt and was in the process of staring up the car, Renos simply went back to what he had been doing earlier, something he had come to classify as _sight seeing_ . Although they hadn't stopped for long during their snack break as they ventured for another hundred miles at what some may call a slow pace, it was to ensure that the cars tires held up until they reached the train station. Pulling the car over to the side of the road Azmaria decided to call it a night and brought out some blankets that she had stowed away in the back just for this trip. Taking his blanket he grudgingly curled up in the font seat and went to sleep while Sister Azmaria made space for herself in the back and spent the night there.

* * *

Light filtered past the the branches of the tall trees onto Renos' face, he groaned and pulled the blanket over his head only to find that the light penetrated that as well. Reluctantly he let the blanket fall to the floor of the cab as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. 'Morning's here, huh?' he mused sarcastically as he removed his fists from his eyes and blinked. 'So where's Sister Azmaria?' he looked around the cab of the car to find her sleeping soundly in the back and not far from her head was the bag of snacks that Ms. Jean had given to them. 'Well now, this is a hard opportunity to pass up.' a smirk curved his lips at the very thought, quietly he moved over to the driver's seat and leaned forward nearly toppling over it as he grasped the bag in his finger tips slowly bringing towards him. It had nearly slipped free from his hands but was grateful to have something to finally eat, opening up the car door he climbed onto the roof of the vehicle where he laid down and stretched freely while had his share of the remaining morsels from Ms. Jean. Renos had just taken the last bite of his food and was about to swallow when he suddenly heard a shriek from below causing the food to get caught in his throat when he jumped, he was finally able to swallow once he had hit the the ground. Furious he stomped up to the back of the ford and opened doors, "what the heck was that for!?!" he shouted, Azmaria gave hims a blank stare in return before she broke into a giggling fit. "What is it now?!" he growled, the Sister's giggles ebbed enough for her to speak.

"You spoke." she wheezed as she rolled around in the back laughing too hard to realize the blush that had risen in his cheeks. Feeling absolutely humiliated he slammed to car doors shut and sat himself down in the passenger seat. Just then she shrieked again making the the boy jump out of his seat once again. "We have to get going otherwise we're going to be late!!" Renos covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to drown out the noise of her shrieking as she hopped into the driver's seat. He didn't remember acting so scatter brained before and was relieved when she did stop. Strangely the sensation of her shrieking didn't go away instead it lingered and began to grow worse.

'What the hell is going on?' he had just barely managed to get that thought processed in his mind, it felt like it was burning. Not wanting to outwardly express any form of weakness he picked up his blanket from the night before and wrapped it around himself, Azmaria had been in too much of a rush to put anything away or even notice that the snacks were gone.

"Didn't get enough sleep last night?" she inquired when she saw that he was wrapped up in his blanket.

"No." he murmured, his head hurt to much for him to really care whether or not he actually spoke. From behind him he could feel the Sister's eyes on him, worry emanating from her gaze. "I'm fine." he droned as something caught his eyes outside his window. Out in the middle of the woods was a man clad in white, an eagle perched upon his forearm. His violet eyes held onto the gaze of the boy, entrancing him. The moment the vehicle passed in front of the figure a pain erupted in Renos' skull causing him to cry out as he writhed in his seat grasping his head.

"Renos! Renos what's the matter?!?" exclaimed the astonished Sister as she nearly drove the car off the road. Taking a moment to regain her control over the steering wheel she glanced at her rear view mirror, her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Azmaria had seen a glimpse from her past and hoped that it was simply her eyes playing tricks on her, but when she saw the eagle with glowing crimson eyes she could deny in no longer and floored it accelerating down the dirt road in a cloud of dust.

* * *

The pain was excruciating but although outwardly his reaction lasted only a few moments his mind was throughly inspecting the source of the static noise that still lingered. It was that same static noise that had spiked when he had passed by that familiar man. Manipulating his thoughts he recalled the reason for his familiarity towards the man, it was the same person who had met with him when he had first discovered the lake in the woods behind the Orphanage. In that instant the noise cleared and was instead replaced with a deep voice as if the static before had been an encoded message.

'Hello boy.' greeted the voice with a chuckle that echoed within the unknowing boy's mind.

'What do you want? Do you still want me to go and join you?' he mentally growled.

'So you **do** know why I'm here.'

'Well my answer is still the same as it was six years ago...no.'

The voice was remained silent contemplation for a moment, 'It wasn't you who had answered my question when we had last spoken, you were going to agree to my terms until you hesitated and verbally retaliated against it a mere thirty seconds later.' the voice paused, 'if that was really your own decision then explain to me here and now how you had concluded to refuse.' Renos hesitated in his response as he thought about the terms that had been proposed to him six years previous.

'I know you want be able to exist on one plain...to be whole.'

'So, what's it to you!' retorted Renos aggressively.

'Nothing of course, that's your own business.' the voice was beginning to fade and the faint static along with it, 'I'll leave you for now to digest your thoughts, after all there's no need to be hasty.' With that the voice vacated the boy's mind allowing him to relax his tensed muscles and stretch. He turned his mind to the world outside and focused his eyes only to realize that it wasn't his eyes that were blurry it was the speed of the car that was making the trees appear as nothing more than one green blob on either side of the vehicle. He turned to look briefly at Sister Azmaria whose eyes were completely fixated on the road ahead an expression of determination mingled with concern on her face. At the sound as movement she spared herself a second to look in his direction out of the corner of her eye.

"Are you alright?" she asked casting her eyes back to the road easing up on the gas. He merely nodded his head. Strangely now that he was fully conscious he was aware of how he felt so worn out, but he hadn't done anything to warrant such a thing. "Did something back there bother you?" The boy shook his head in the negative, "are you sure?" Azmaria had pulled the ford to a complete stop upon reaching a barren intersection, it was sign that they were approaching the city. Once they'd stopped she turned to look at him, this time he had no response because to be honest he wasn't entirely sure of what had transpired back there. Renos was reeled back from his thoughts by a soft touch on his forehead, it had been Sister Azmaria; she withdrew her hand before returning her attention to driving once again, releasing a sigh she spoke thoughtfully, "well you don't have a fever, so..."

"Sister Azmaria?" the boy's quiet call for the Sister's attention was answered.

"Uh, yes, Renos? What is it?" she asked as the boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Who exactly is Aion?" he queried in an abnormally small voice. Azmaria in the midst of oncoming traffic thrust her foot against the brakes stopping the car abruptly in the middle of the road, sending Renos roughly up against the dashboard making him suddenly regret ever having spoken at all; luckily no other vehicles were behind them otherwise the good Sister would've been responsible for a serious car accident. Settling himself back in his seat he saw that the Sister was giving him a incredulous stare.

"How do you know about him?" she inquired, at this the boy visibly flinched.

'I'm not about to tell her when it's really none of her business, caretaker or not.' he shrugged, "I simply heard the name before and was curious." he replied, lying through his teeth. She eyed him for a moment before accepting his answer.

"Well..." she began as she told her story of how she had come to meet a pair called Rosette Christopher and Chrono who had been on a mission to save her from a devil worshiper and his devil Lerijai. It had been since that point on that the three were together until Aion came into full view. Azmaria explained how she had been about his age at the time and the plans that Aion was going through with.

"So Aion was trying to make heaven into earth and earth into heaven..?"

"Sort of. He was setting up the world so that it would collapse in upon itself and he could start it anew." she explained shortly before emersing herself in how she and her friends had fought with the said devil along with his compatriots defeating them with the assistance from the Order. Unfortunately there wasn't much of a happy ending to this tale for Azmaria's two friends had disappeared for about six months following Aion's downfall. They had been found seated upon a wooded bench that hung from the ceiling of an abandoned cottage in the middle of a meadow; their smiling faces lacked warmth for one reason, they were dead. At this point Azmaria shed silent tears as she drove through town but didn't break down into sobs. "They had passed on peacefully and that's all that matters to me." had been her explanation when he had asked, "and it was there," she said smiling at the boy upon reaching their destination, the train station, "that I had found you."

Renos silently dragged himself out of the Ford before she could announce their arrival, his mind digesting the Sister's story. 'So she found me in the same place that her friends were found dead. If I had been in her place I probably would have blamed their deaths on the kid even if it was an infant...' He firmly grasped the handle of his suitcase and pulled it out of the back of the vehicle, he waited for Sister Azmaria to do the same. 'What I want to know is why was I there in the first place? They couldn't be my parents, could they..?' he mused, 'Sister Azmaria had said that she and the other Sister's had named him with a combination of the two's names, she simply claimed that it had been in their memory and nothing more..' The boy's thoughts were rudely interrupted by someone shouting, his ears twitched beneath his overgrown hair; the person kept on shouting, as he watched a crowd enter the station he saw that they were making a narrow path for someone to pass through and it was from that direction that the shouting was coming from. Renos averted his eyes from the crowd to observe the the event occurring in the parking lot out to the street just beyond. "I forgot how loud towns are." he growled under his breath as his ears twitched downwards in an attempt to nonchalantly block out some of the racket. Turning his attention back to the crowd he could finally make out the person that was pushing their way through the crowd, what threw him for a loop was that she was dressed in an exorcist's uniform that was identical to Sister Azmaria's b and /b she was headed straight towards them. Taking a quick glance at her face made him want to bolt but before he could get a chance Azmaria had grasped his arm and was involuntarily dragging him over to meet the other Sister.

He was well aware that they had finally met up with the Sister for Azmaria had let go of his arm and the other was screeching with delight that made him visibly wince, not that it was noticed. "Azmaria it's been a while!" shrieked the Sister taking Azmaria into an overly friendly embrace before breaking away from her to inspect the boy she had in tow.

"Yes, it has been, Madeline." replied Azmaria quietly as the said Sister squeezed Renos half to death screeching in almost incoherent words how absolutely adorable he was. From where Azmaria stood she could clearly see the boy trying mercilessly to escape to no avail and giggled. Suddenly Sister Madeline relinquished her grip on the boy turning her immediate attention to fellow Sister Azmaria, behind her Renos was on his hands and knees gasping for breath all the while glaring angrily at the Sister's back.

"You guys are late." she stated firmly planting her hands on her hips, "I was starting to think that you two weren't gonna show." she dug a hand into a pouch on her hip and pulled out three small slips of paper with even smaller print typed on them. "Here's your tickets." said Madeline cheerfully to Azmaria before turning to an irritated Renos who was in the midst of dusting off is clothing, "and yours." He stood at his full height grudgingly taking his ticket, as the Sister turned back to Azmaria he peered at his ticket before straightening his hair making his way to the platform it indicated. It wasn't long before he found himself temporarily lost in the crowd.

"Dammit, where's platform six?" he cursed inaudibly as he pushed his way over to an open space. Taking another brief look at his ticket he let his eyes rove over the scene looking for hints as to where it could possibly be, "there has to be a sign somewhere." Squinting his eyes just the slightest bit permitted him to see the platforms clearly through the throngs of people without the need to move from where he stood. "There it is." he muttered as he moved back into the crowd over the platform six.

* * *

Azmaria looked past Sister Madeline to find that Renos was no longer behind them, taking a glance around them he was nowhere to be seen. "Let's catch up on old times after we get on the train, at this rate we're going to miss it."

"Sorry 'bout that," apologized Sister Madeline as she scratched the back of her head in pure nervousness, "so lets get going you... Hey where'd Renos go off to?!" she exclaimed as she began looking around the general area. Azmaria let a sigh escape her lips.

"He's probably already in the train station, so lets get going."

"Right!"

The both of them had just entered the station on their way to the proper platform when an announcement came on the over-com, "trains heading to New York, Gettysberg, and San Francisco are now departing..." The Sisters exchanged a quick glance before making an endeavor to reach their train before it departed, paying little attention to anything but where their train was leaving from Azmaria accidently crashed into a tall man in a trench coat but when she turned to apologize he was already gone. The Sisters returned their attention back to the platform indicated on their ticket only to find that the train had just left to station.

* * *

'Phew, I just barely got on.' Renos thought to himself as he retrieved his ticket from the conductor, looking around he didn't see any signs of either Sister Azmaria of Sister Madeline boarding the train, "great, just great." he mumbled as he began his walk down the aisle of the car. Much to his disliking the car he was in had a few too many people to his liking so he moved onto the next car; it was only slightly less occupied with some empty seats. Picking a seat that was farthest from most of the others Renos sat down placing his suitcase on the seat across from him. He softly leaned his head against the large window next to him watching the scenery go by, he closed his eyes and listened to the steady rhythm of the train's wheels against steel tracks as it rocked him to sleep.

* * *

"Yes, hello,...ah about the train to San Francisco...sorry... Yes I did make it here on time... It's just that Renos got on the train before we did... Please not so loud ma'am... I know that we shouldn't have. Alright, thank you." finished Sister Azmaria with a sigh as she hung up the Order's portable phone.

"So what'd she say?"

"She wants us to get on the next train to San Francisco, she has a feeling that i he /i may try to get Renos while he's alone."

"Okay so we need to find out when the next train comes and make sure that we board it."

"Yeah, unfortunately that's about all that we can do for now." replied Sister Azmaria with a worn smile.

* * *

_ A gentle breeze caressed the ground, playing with the tall grasses and kicking up dust; in it's sunset escapade the breeze brought with it a soft whine to the ears of two passersby. Their shadowy forms, upon approach were frightening to see but the whine soon simmered down to a small whimper as the infant began to sense that they meant no harm._

_"Oh look Chrono, it's a baby." the voice of the shadow was that of a young woman, but all that could be seen by the infant was her gentle smile. The gentle female shadow scooped up the small bundle that was the infant in her arms. Another shadow approached from the side to observe what it was that she held so close._

_"You know that we can't take of it Rosette." it replied, it's voice belonging to a boy who the woman had called Chrono. She turned to him absentmindedly allowing the infant to suckle on her finger._

_"I know Chrono," Rosette's voice sounded pained, "but someone has to, even for a little while..." she pleaded turning her attention back to the small babe who stared back at her questioningly. Chrono stepped closer, letting his eyes rove over the child he released a pent up sigh._

_"Fine Rosette, but in the shape we're in I don't know..." Chrono's voice trailed off but Rosette seemed to pay it no mind._

_"I think that the baby's listening to our conversation, he's been quiet," she said sounding excited she allowed a giggle to escape her lips, "hey maybe you can pass yourself off as a monk!"joked Rosette, with that the tension in the air dissolved as all three laughed the baby giggling happily in Rosette's arms; it was in this fashion that they slowly made their way down the road to their humble cottage._

_

* * *

_

_Seated comfortably in a old wooden chair by an equally old and worn out circular table Rosette rocked the baby back and forth as Chrono crossed the threshold towards her._

_"Here let me give you a break," offered Chrono extending his arms to accept the charge of the baby._

_"No Chrono, you struggle just to keep yourself moving for my sake." objected Rosette drawing away from the boy devil._

_"It's alright, I can see that you're tired, please take a break." insisted the boy as he tried to reason with her. With a sigh she announced her defeat._

_"If you really want to there's no way of me stopping you, be my guest." said Rosette as she made to surrendering the infant over to Chrono. With a few quick instructions on how to hold the baby she reluctantly relinquished the child._

_"Wow, you're a natural. And I think he likes you!" complemented Rosette pointing out the smile on the baby boy, even his crystal clear blue eyes radiated happiness as he reached up to Chrono letting out playful giggles when he finally got a hold of the devil's braid causing the pair to chuckle warmly as they smiled at one another._

The world faded into a soft, and comforting darkness that felt soothing to the touch. This darkness was interrupted by incomprehensible speech, at first the darkness fought back against the intrusion only to fall back in retreat as a faint light entered sight. It was at that time that azure eyes fluttered open unwillingly letting go of the blanket of sleep that had enshrouded the owner's mind in exchange for this world of light. "Hm..." murmured the boy as his consciousness awoke to see a small girl's smiling face lingering in front of his own. He unwittingly stared back at her his expression blank while his mind concocted a way for him to approach the situation but his thoughts were interrupted by a woman's voice.

* * *

Well that should be long enough for the first chapter, I'll try and get the next one up as soon as I get at least two reviews. -.-

Now I have other things to do so until the next update, good bye.


	2. Chapter 2 Separation

"Now Angela you know better than to wake somebody up when they're sleeping." she scolded while gently pulling the child towards her before she turned her attention to the boy. "I'm sorry she bothered you." Renos shrugged.

"It's alright." he said while stifling a yawn, his mind still dawdling in his dreams, 'I wonder if those two in my dream were Sister Azmaria's friends that she had told me about.' He didn't stay focused on these thoughts for long for the woman had released her daughter allowing the child to parade around between the two seats giggling up a storm. Renos pulled up his hood, a small attempt to muffle the girl's incessant giggles that were becoming increasingly annoying by the second that was until it stopped abruptly and was replaced by a soft thud. Looking up he saw that Angela was seated on the floor looming above her was a tall man in dreary looking trench, his eyes lingered on the boy for a moment before Angela's mother spoke up.

"I'm so sorry sir." she apologized quickly taking her daughter under her wing she turned to the small girl, "now Angela say your sorry." She gave a tiny nod and made her best endeavor to look the frightening looking man in the eye.

"I-I'm sorry." once the words left her lips she stared dejectedly at the ground. In response the man simply grunted and continued on his way to the front of the train. Renos felt strangely unnerved by the encounter and silently watched the man move on to the the next car before allowing himself to relax.

'Why the hell was he staring at me..? And there was a strange aura emanating from him..' he adjusted his hood so that it shielded his face from unwanted eyes, 'whatever, he's gone now.' Turning to look out the window he saw that the sun was setting casting dark shadows across the ground and changing the sky from a shade of light blue to that of crimson smears painted amongst the clouds. 'I thought I had left this closed..they must have opened it at some point while I was asleep. Wait, I vividly remember that it was around noon time when I had boarded, how long was I asleep?' He looked back at the interior of the car, 'looks like it's been a while,' he noted when he noticed a fewer amount of people occupying the seats; he pursued the thoughts no further. The boy was about to return to looking out the window when he felt a slight tug on his sleeve, it was little Angela trying to get his attention.

"Mommy said to give this to you." she recited as she placed faintly warm muffin in his palm before scampering over to her mother across the small divide between the seats. At the mention of the girl's mother his clear blue eyes darted over to her, on her lap was a large brown bag filled with long loaves of what looked to be french bread that he hadn't noticed before, but then again he hadn't really paid her much mind earlier so he dismissed any further thoughts.

"Thank you." he murmured, his gaze still lingering on the woman; in return he received a warm smile that set him aback making him feel the need to look away. The sound of soft laughter tickled at his ears beneath his hood.

"You're welcome." said the woman quietly, her gentle laugh ceasing to be heard, "by the way, where you heading to?" her voice resonated with sincere curiosity, "you seem a tad young to be traveling by yourself." Despite the woman's soft tone of voice he couldn't help but feel slightly offended by being called _too young_ .

"I'm eleven." he replied bluntly, "and I'm heading to San Francisco." With that said he took a vicious bite out of his muffin.

"Only eleven and your parents let you ride the train all by yourself?" she sounded astonished. Renos glanced at the woman out of the corner of his eye for a brief moment before going back to his muffin.

"I was suppose to be going with my guardian," he paused to take a small bite, "but we got separated at the station and she missed the train." The boy swallowed the last of his muffin and stared nonchalantly out the window while the woman took a moment to process his story. Suddenly the train jerked forward jostling the passengers around in their seats and tossing baggage about the aisle. Renos had been thrown up against the seat in front of him landing face first against his suitcase, immediately he forced himself to his feet bracing himself by holding onto a seat. "What the hell is going on?!" he cursed. Ignoring the expression on the woman's countenance he let his eyes rove over the rest of the car, everyone was seated firmly on the floor grasping onto permanent fixtures to keep themselves anchored; it was the same for Angela and her mother, he was the only one standing. 'Well looks like no one else is going to investigate this, so I'll just have to do it myself.'

He moved away from his seat and into the aisle, he felt the passengers' eyes on him and each in turn received a dutiful glare as he passed; he felt no need to explain anything to them. It wasn't long before he reached the end of the car, leaving the car's interior he had come to the junction between his car and the next. Renos was pressed up against the outer wall of the car, the pressure outside was immense slowing down any forward progress. Turning his head to the side he saw the scenery going by at a breakneck pace, "that's definitely not good." he said with dry sarcasm as he pried himself away from the wall to grab the iron railing in front of him. His eyes kept to the platform beneath his feet as he shifted his position in order to pass over the junction as safely as possible; again the train jerked as it followed a wide turn on the track, the sudden movement had enough force to throw Renos over the junction where he braced himself against the railing. 'Looks like another thing to knock off my to do list – ride a train.' he mused, having reached the next car he wasted no time in entering it after his close-call outside.

People were huddled together holding on tightly to the train's seats while they themselves remained seated on the floor just as they had been in the last car. In the boy's eyes these people were acting so pitiful, so helpless that it effortlessly made his blood boil. "What the hell is wrong with you people!" he shouted aloud snapping some of the passengers from their fear induced stupors, immediately all eyes fell on him making him regret ever having said anything at all. "You could at least try and act like you have a spine." he muttered as he made his way up the aisle ignoring halfhearted jeers of those who disliked his choice of words. As he approached the end of the car a reproachful smell caught his sensitive nose, looking past the last few seats were deceased bodies clad in train attendant's uniforms. Holding his nose he knelt down next to the bodies, 'so this is why nobody's willing to move.' In the hand of one of the assistants was the receiver to the phone hanging on the wall next to the door, he paid no attention to this and began to push the bodies aside trying his best to prop them up against the back of the final row of seats so that they wouldn't be in the way of him opening the door to the next junction. Forcing himself back up to his feet he glanced back down the aisle, 'I'll never understand why I feel the need to help humans when they don't even try to the help themselves.' he thought as he closed the door behind him, before him lay the junction and beyond that the tinder for the train.

"Well might as well get going." he murmured to no one in particular as he launched himself across the junction to cling onto the ladder to where the tinder was stored. The rungs were thin causing the boy to lose his footing numerous times as the wind rushed past him on all sides making it all the harder to climb upward. Rung by rung he pulled himself up until he reached the highest point on the tinder's steel container. Inside coal was piled up to just about three feet below the thick rim of the steel container, with little hesitation Renos allowed himself to drop into the vacant space kicking up a cloud of the dark fossil fuel. "There has got to be an easier way to do this." he sputtered through a small coughing fit as he crawled over towards the engine.

Smoke from the train's smoke stack flowed overhead giving the sight before him an even eerier appeal. From where he knelt he could plainly see the two conductors, but their skin was oddly pale even in the dimming light and even stranger was the objects that were adjacent to their backs; both men had become permanent ornaments on the train's levers that controlled it speed and its braking systems. The boy reeled back in horror and ducked beneath the steel rim of the storage space, a wave of nausea hit him head on ridding him of the meal he had consumed not long before. As he wiped the rest of the vile from his mouth on the back of his sleeve a low pitched laughter ruptured in the air from behind him. Renos spun around to see that very same man in the dark trench coat standing effortlessly upon the roof of the first car, in his arms he held a woman and child but their faces along with the man's were obscured by the plum of smoke the train released from its smokestack.

"Don't tell me that you're unaccustomed to seeing corpses boy." commented the man casually as if death was a common subject of gossip. Renos ignored the fact of where he was and stood up moving towards the dark figure of a man, his hair wiped around his face but through it he could now make out the faces of the man's hostages.

"What the hell are you doing?!" shouted the boy his voice was nearly forced back down his throat due to the speed at which he was traveling. Again the man chuckled having little regard for the two he held loosely under either arm.

"And I was told that you were an intelligent boy." his laughter wanned, "what does it look like I'm doing?" Renos sneered at the man's remark choosing to try and ignore it.

'Who told him about me? I've never seen him before in my life.' he thought quickly running scenarios through his head until he came upon a thought, 'unless...' The boy closed his eyes to to concentrate on wiping the emotions that he had been expressing so clearly from his countenance. In the next moment he opened his eyes he and calmly stared down the man, "do tell me if what I'm seeing is incorrect because it looks to me that you're going to release your hostages and check yourself into a mental institution." At this the man scowled as he barred his teeth at the boy, pearly whites catching the last glimpse of sunlight.

"Not very wise boy."

"Wasn't trying to be." he replied calmly taking cautious steps backwards until he was satisfied with the distance.

"Don't try it boy, bravery's a fool's trade." said the man stiffly moving back while taking both hostages under his right arm. The mother and child did little to struggle for their bodies were bound tightly with thick ropes. It was now that the boy allowed a smirk to form on his lips.

"Weren't you the one who said I was sophomoric?" he stated as he broke into a run, upon reaching the end of the container he jumped onto the rim before propelling himself across the vacant space below him that was the junction. The wind forced him forward adding to the strength of his jump, in a matter of seconds he had landed rather gracefully on the car's metallic roof a smirk still present on his face as he stood.


	3. Chapter 3 Consciousness

I apologize for getting this out so late, I had some problems going on with no internet connections, car accidents, procrastination and the need to make this longer tha the last post so it took longer to get this updated.

**Reminder:** This is a story based off of the anime series being played out as an after story to the anime's ending. Thus there are a cast of characters that are not mine those who know Chrono Crusade will be able to clearly see that.

Now.., enjoy! --

* * *

Behind the boy's expression his feelings towards the situation were not so optimistic, 'how the hell is he able to stay up here so effortlessly?' His foot shifted slightly before he caught himself, his countenance remained unchanged. 'This is **a lot** harder than it looks.' he mentally growled, he had to force his body to lean forward to avoid falling over the edge of the roof that was a mere step behind him. At the far end of the car the devilish man dropped his hostages haphazardly on the sleek roof leaving them to hold onto the edge for their lives. With his arms free he stretched his them over his head before slipping off the trench that seemed to restraining his hulking muscles. The coat, discarded fluttered away easily in the powerful wind that threatened to knock off all who kept a perch upon the smooth surface of the roof; beneath the man's trench wasn't a man but a leathery beast who vaguely resembled a human as he had once appeared. Muscular pectorals, biceps, even quads; the winged beast's body was well toned, Renos being as young as he was had yet to build up nearly as much muscle mass to compete with that and allowed a scowl to get past his mask. "Not good." he murmured to himself as he forced himself to look past the being he now knew to be a devil in an attempt to assess the conditions of the mother and daughter; he could see them, that was until the devil stepped forward to obscure his view. In frustration he blurted out the first reasonable thought that came to mind in order to facilitate some answers. "So, do you have any relation to my infamous visitor from earlier or do you suddenly feel the need to pick on humans for your own game?" At this inquiry the devil seemed amused and chuckled softly something that Renos would have thought an impossible task for the the creature had he not just witnessed it.

"I take back what I said earlier," he answered when his chortling has stopped, "you're a perceptive fool." The boy frowned on the devil's useage of an oxymoron with displeasure but otherwise ignored it.

"So, it's safe to assume that you're in cohorts with Aion." he stated rather than asked. Once more the devil smirked revealing his flawless fangs.

"I am." said the the beast curtly before turning a statement of his own towards the boy. "And I would guess that you know why it is that I'm here."

"My answer still stands." he said firmly his hands balling into fists at his sides as his eyes angled up to glare wholeheartedly at the figure in front of him, "no." The creature simply cocked his head mockingly at the boy's chilling eyes as if he was completely immune to their effects.

"Really now? That's a real pity." his voice was tantalizing in Renos' ears, "I was kind of hoping to be able to bring you back without a fight, but..." he drew out the last word slowly as if to put emphasis into his next statement. "That certainly wouldn't be much fun at all," he cocked his head to the other side a mouthful of pointed teeth in full view of the boy through his curved lips, "now would it?" The devil swiftly turned and grasped the woman roughly by her hair holding her out in front of him allowing the boy to become completely aware of who she was. "Recognize her?" It took but a moment for Renos to confirm the features of the woman's face.

'Angela's mother?!' he exclaimed as he eyes widened before he spared a chance to look back at the child that just barely managed to hold onto the train behind the devil. 'Angela..?' The recognition must have been apparent on his face for the devil continued as if he simply paused for his own sake.

"So you **do** recognize this woman and her child." he made brief gestures to either of the two in turn. "I'll have you know that I'm no fan of hostages so, lets lighten the load, now shall we." he said as he swung the woman over the edge of th train. Renos made an endeavor to rush forward but he was to slow with his cautious footsteps trying to get traction on the sleek metal to be of any help as Angela's teary-eyed mother fell helplessly to the ground that rushed by below. "The other can wait, for now. I can't have them both die the same time, drawing it out a bit makes it all the more enjoyable." again he drew out the last word in his sentence. He looked at the boy whose eyes were now hidden behind his bangs, at his sides his fists were balled up so tight that his knuckles were white in contrast to his normally tanned skin. "Now boy, don't tell me that you were attached to that human?" he queried with a hint of mirth.

To this he received no response but a low growl that seemed to emanate from the boy's now shuddering form.

"You bastard! How could you?!" shouted the boy accusingly as he lunged at the devil head-on, the beast simply put up a hand to stop the boy's senseless endeavor a guttural chuckle rising from his throat.

"Quite the sympathetic one aren't you? Can't say that I expected that sort of reaction from you." Renos continued to struggle against the devil's hand, throwing a fury of punches that were far from making any sort of contact. As if in realization of the apparent fact the boy's fists began to slow in their rapid motions, soon his arms dropped to his sides as his body became completely still, slowly the devil began to remove his hand from the boy's head; nothing happened. Once the devil's hand had completely lifted from his head Renos ducked down swinging an outstretched leg at the devil's legs.

Completely caught off guard by this action the devil lost his balance and nearly falling from the train, with half a beat from his wings he regained his footing on the train's roof, but he had displaced. The boy had reached the young girl and was currently occupied with unbinding her. As soon as the girl's ropes were free she clung desperately onto the boy's black coat whimpering. Set aback by Angela's reaction he hesitantly patted her back not knowing what exactly he could do in this sort of situation, to try and calm her or to try and get her down from the roof safely. Just then there was a strain on Renos' hood as he was torn away from little Angela. The devil held the boy in front of him, he made no fight to get himself out of the beast's grip as he was stared down with a scowl.

"You think something as trivial as that would harm me, boy?" his voice was close to being in hysterics.

Renos said nothing but easily managed a defiant glare back at him.

"Well boy you're sorely mistaken!" he roared as he drew back his fist and trust it into the Renos's gut. On contact the sickening sound of crackling was nearly drowned out by the wind only to be beaten down by the cry of pain he allowed past his lips. Blood coated the inside of his mouth with a coppery taste some of which drizzled down the corner of his chin leaving a crimson trail. His eyes were nearly squeezed shut as he drew his arms to his body to shield his injured abdomen from another attack, still he held his icy gaze on the devil but it seemed far less effective than before. "I'm sure that Aion won't mind if I rough you up a bit before I bring you to him, just so long as I bring you to him alive." he voiced with utter satisfaction.

'Dammit!! Even if I do try and fight back I've already proven that to be a complete failure at best.' he gaze wavered for a moment as the devil made to pull back his fist again, 'heh, maybe I would have been better off staying with the Sister Azmaria and that other Sister with her squealing...' He could clearly see a fist coming at him now and prepared himself, 'nope. Nothing can be worse than that.' he mused as the fist made its fast approach. Renos moved his hand to the zipper on his coat tugging it free of it's track and slipped out of it at the last second landing roughly on his knees wincing at the pain that he caused himself in the process. The devil didn't miss a beat, he released his grasp on the boy's coat and kicked him with enough force that it sent him skidding across the surface of the next car on his side as he came to a stop on the harsh surface of the rooftop. Renos cringed as he involuntarily wrapped his arms around himself well aware of the sharp pain that shot through his body from the unexpected impact. Through squinted eyes he could make out the devil's figure snatching up Angela under his arm before he crossed the space between the cars. This approach couldn't stir up enough incentive to get his body moving. Lingering at the edge of his vision was a blur that narrowed his line of sight. 'This can't be happening, not now...Dammit!' The devil was within arms length now.

"Troublesome." muttered the devil, "can't even put up a halfway decent fight to make seem as though you were trying to fight your fate." He toed the boy who unwillingly let out a small yelp of pain. "Hmpf..Must be that _human_ blood of yours getting in the way of your devil instincts." Again he nudged Renos, there was a sight tug on his foot this time that was almost unnoticeable; the boy was latched onto his ankle, a flicker of determination glimmered in his azure eyes. The beast merely scowled at his efforts. "Stubborn halfling," he began to lift his foot, "if Aion wasn't asking for me to bring you to him alive I would probably would have snuffed you out by now." He thrust his foot forward unlatching Renos from his calf forcing him to the very edge of the car. "So stop acting like a pitiful human, you're making this **too** easy for me."

It sounded like he was going to say more but then, as if the words had been the trigger miasma filled the air surrounding the boy; clinging to him despite the wind's protests. With the thick cloud swirling around Renos it was impossible for the devil to see that the boy was no longer conscious, having passed out from the intensity of the pain that had been inflicted upon his body. Renos' form grew in height and in bulk as his muscles became well toned, his hair gaining a few streaks of sandy brown to give it a dirty blond appearance. Pointed ears elongated to an even finer defined point stickig up above his thick head of hair, onyx colored horns protruded from his head an opal gem fastened into place at their bases. Dark sinewed wings unfolding themselves from his back, his clothing morphed along with his form; metal cuffs held his wrists, upon his feet steel-tipped boots that rose to his knees, his chest remained exposed from under a loose beige jacket, his pants being of the same material were on the other hand skin tight reaching from just below his abdominals down to the tops of his boots. In his countenace were a set of piercing ruby eyes that looked severely out of place being there. All that remained of the boy's presence was the trail of blood that rolled down his chin, the wounds had yet to heal.

As the miasma cleared to reveal the boy's transformation, the devil stepped back temporarily feeling intimidated by this new, yet familiar figure. It took a mere moment for recognition to set in for him as he put the name from his past partner together with this being's face. "Aion did mention something about this being a possibility, but I didn't really think that I would get to see you again... Lucifer." At this the figure's eyes snapped open, it was in both ways a response and a threat that lingered in his eyes as they roved quickly over the devil before him; his gaze tarrying on the young girl in the other's arm before looking back up at the face of the of the girl's captor with a harsh glare.

"Release the girl." commanded the deep voice that escaped the figure addressed as Lucifer, his eyes not relenting in sending their own threatening message. The beast frowned but made no move to let go of the girl.

"Don't tell me you're doing as the boy wants Lucifer."

"I simply agree with him." answered Lucifer, his features stoic, "besides, you should know what she is," he paused, "_he_ can't quite sense it with his inexperience but surly you can at least do that." At this they both glanced at little Angela as she continued whimpering over the loss of her mother.

"I know perfectly well that she's an apostle." grumbled the devil grudgingly, "and I have no intention of handing her over to you, _'less risks give better odds...'"_

"Says who?! Aion?" retorted Lucifer venomously, his lip curling into a snarl as he stepped forward closing the gap.

"He's your master too." rebuked the devil, at this Lucifer tensed.

"My body died years ago when I decided to defy his methods, Bael. He is **not** my master, all that exists between us is our blood relation that I wish I didn't have the misfortune of owning."

"I never understood why you left our cause, but if your going to keep me from fulfilling my mission," he whipped his hand to the side, his clawed fingers extending to an even sharper point, "then I have no choice but to cut you down."

"Kill me and the boy is lost to your _master_." Lucifer's voice was causal as he removed the cuff on his right wrist, it unhinged revealing a blade. "And I feel fully inclined to keep you from bringing him from Aion, and of discarding the apostle child, so don't count on me allowing you to walk away from this." With no further need for words the two clashed. Bael, still carrying the girl, viciously hacked away at Lucifer, who took great care to not allow the sharp tips to grace his skin as he evaded each blow, his gaze fixated on Angela, the apostle girl.

* * *

Well I tried to get this out ASAP and failed, but I will continue as I had been with the previous posts with a little add on... I am going to ask that three reviews get the next update up, **_and_** some tips on how to imprive what I'm writing. I, like anyone who likes to write need some constructive critisim or specific comments so that our writing can improve for the sake of the reader. Please and Thank you!

Crescent Zenith signing off...


	4. Chapter 4 Life

_Sorry it took so long to get this update up, I'm working on multiple stories for another site... And it doesn't help that school's starting back up for me Sept. 5th and I still have things I want to do before summer is over, hiking being one of them much to the disliking of the rest of my family who are less than pleased to do so._ _I'll see what I can do about getting these out sooner but with only one review I was a little reluctant to update at all...([continues in the end)_

_Anyway please enjoy!_

**_Chapter 4: Life _**

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He focused his eyes between the girl and Bael looking for the slightest hint of a opening as he kept to the defensive; his patience was rewarded. In frustration the other devil threw his fist at Lucifer's face, in one swift motion he evaded the oncoming projectile and lunged taking the girl into his arms upon severing Bael's arm. Behind him the devil howled in agony at the loss of his limb but he ignored it as he tended to the small girl.

"Young apostle, are you alright?" he whispered in a controlled tone as he looked her in the eyes. She didn't answer him, instead she whimpered and put her face into his shoulder where she began to cry.

"W-what happened to mommy..?" her high pitched voice cracked. His features became grim as he averted his eyes from looking at the Angela's small form in his arms. An attempt to avoid having to tell the child the truth. Unfortunately it was this silent gesture that she understood all too well and her body began to shake as sobs wracked her body. A roar erupted from behind them as Bael charged forward his one arm at the ready to gouge out the first thing it came in contact with. Lucifer just narrowly avoided the blow as he circled to the side cradling Angela close to his chest. It had been a feint, the devil followed Lucifer's steps effortlessly despite his massive size and kneed him in the gut resurrecting the injury that had been inflicted previous to Lucifer's appearance. Blood spilled from between his lips. Instinctively he backed off as he took a firmer hold on the hilt of his weapon before advancing on Bael almost pristine teeth barred. The other devil followed suit his claws glimmering ominously in the dimming light. They made contact, a claw was cut clean off one, a gash dashed down the others forearm. Darting away from one another they crossed paths again, once more Lucifer held his blade in his brief preparation to attack, Bael on the other hand had other plans. As they drew closer a crimson light formed in the devil's palm, drawing it back he forced it forward with all the strength his arm could muster; his muscles bulging underneath too tight skin. The teenage devil was unable to change his course and took full force of the blast that sent him back a car making a large imprint of himself in the harsh metal roof.

His grip had loosened upon impact releasing the young apostle Angela from his arm's hold, her body skidding to the edge of the slick surface with nothing to stop her as she suffered the same fate as her beloved mother. When Lucifer realized what he had done it was too late to attempt to retrieve her and cursed under his breath as he forced himself to his feet, a grimace upon his features he stared down a grinning Bael. A low growl rumbled from deep within Lucifer's chest catching the other devil's interest. "Well, can't say that that was the way that she was going to be taken care of but either way her life still came to an end. Though, considering how you had said that you simply agreed with the boy you seem deeply affected by her death now don't you?" he mocked. Lucifer's lips quivered and curled into a snarl, pointed teeth threatening; his eyes shielded by disheveled hair. "Come now, Lucifer. The girl's gone and the boy is going to be coming with me. Give it up." He tilted his head to the side a taunt in his voice, "you've been surpassed. Your power is nothing, especially with you being trapped in that body. Heck, if you were truly in top forum you could've easily beaten me, but as you can see," he stepped forward, "I've risen, while you have fallen." Bael now stood directly above his old partner grinning widely, "so, what do you say?" he murmured.

Lucifer spit crimson fluid onto Bael's boot, before a response could be formulated he had him by the throat holding him out in front of him, his free hand drawing back as his claws extended to a deadly point. Looking down Bael's gaze was held by the teen's glowing irises, his brows furrowed in anger while his lips shifted from its sneer to a sickening smirk. "No, but I'm sure that Aion won't mind if he loses another mindless soldier." The other devil's eyes widened in realization, his remaining arm flew to take purchase on Lucifer's cut forearm but found that he was unable to resist anymore than that. Bael made an endeavor to for his life.

"If you kill me you'll be just like me." His throat was squeezed tighter as the teen's smirk began to fade into a scowl. He opened his mouth again but the crushing force on his throat was too much for him to choke up comprehensible speech, his words fell upon deaf ears.

"Then to kill a monster, I'll become a monster." he growled thrusting his clawed hand into Bael's chest and withdrew it just a quickly holding in his palm the devil's pacemaker, his heart. He held it within Bael's line of sight. "I'm holding your life in my hands," he tightened his grasp, the other devil cringed as he swallowed his pain. "...and I say that you're time is up." With this he dug his claws into Bael's heart, puncturing the chambers; He drew back his hand freeing the once beating organ from his chest as he relinquished his vice grip on Bael's throat allowing the now limp and lifeless body to slump onto the cold metal. The glow in Lucifer's eyes faded, his features becoming overrun by fatigue as he gazed lazily ahead at the reasonably sharp turn in the tracks. Glancing down at Bael's body he was able to catch a glance of it sliding off the edge to the blur below that was the ground. His eyes shifted to the organ still in his palm sparing a glare as he toss it after its owner over the edge of the train just as the train, at its maximum speed hit the turn; it was too much, the train derailed.

In the blink of an eye the ground drew closer than it should, Lucifer's feet no longer found traction on the roof. He fell from the car as his eyes slowly closed losing sight of the objects racing past him in slow motion, unaware of the moment he hit the ground for he was no longer the teen but the eleven year old boy who had originally boarded; Unconscious but alive as the wreck took place around him.

* * *

"...Re..nos...Renos." The voice was faint but it echoed throughout his aching head giving him what he would subconsciously call an unnecessary headache. Unwillingly he strived towards the source of the familiar voice hoping all the while that once the source was found that the throbbing pain in his head would stop. Slowly his eyes opened, faintly surprised to see that there was no bright light present to sting his eyes as they adjusted to the dimness like it usually would. He could feel the ground at his back as he stared off into the space above him. The outlines of the stars were quite vivid against the pitch black velvet sky. With his eyes now focused the rest of his senses came back to him in a rush and the voice the had reached out to him rang true in his ears reviving the ache in his skull that he had thought he had escaped. "Renos, you're awake." The voice sounded relieved as if there had been a reason to pent up a large sum of worry for the sake of releasing it. 

"Sister Azmaria..." he groaned just barely able to hear himself over his migraine. His eyes searched around him for that familiar person knowing without a doubt that it had been her voice that he had heard. Tilting his head he saw her, she was kneeling next to him a warm smile lighting up her face despite the tears that traversed down her cheeks unbidden. Silently she reached out and cupped his cheek and whispered to him, "I'm right here." Her other hand brushed loose strands of hair from his face allowing her full view of his crystal blue eyes still slightly clouded with sleep. "I thought I lost you," she murmured almost to herself as she began to withdraw her hand reluctantly. "I'm glad I didn't." She rose to her feet where she lingered for a moment more before a voice beckoned her to come leaving him where he lay beneath a thin sheet on the ground. He closed his eyes as he resigned himself to his thoughts, pondering how it was that he came to be where he was.

'I had been on the train...then that devil attacked..and...' he plotted onward urging the memories to come to him, 'he had taken hostages,' he paused as an imaged flashed across his mind. 'Simply because of me...The devil had been after me on orders from Aion, and...' he searched relentlessly for the events that followed but they fought to keep themselves hidden. He could recall climbing onto the roof and trying to get the devil to release his hostages, he remembered seeing the mother fall to her death; at the speed the train was going there was no way that she could have plausibly survived. The blow that had been thrown against him upon angering the devil, he tried harder, but nothing more came. His mind wondered onto an unseen course, 'the girl, Angela. What happened to her?'

His eyes snapped open to find that light was now filling the sky causing the stars to retreat until night scattered them out for the world to witness later as they often did.

Renos squinted his eyes as he lifted his arm to shield his eyes, 'how much time has passed..?' he wondered briefly, a pain shot through his nerves at the single movement, his body became ridged as he squeezed his eyes shut. 'I knew taking those blows was going to hurt, but never did I stop to think that it would be this bad.' Gritting his teeth he propped himself up on one elbow permitting him visage of the scene around him despite the pain it caused him to do so. Not far from where he lay was the contorted obsidian coal powered engined rested in a heap, in a trail behind it cars were strewn about carelessly like a child's plaything, discarded once interest in it was lost. People who looked completely out of place in the wild landscape sat in large groups around smothering embers as they shared sheets identical to his own. Others who were dressed accordingly in their blue uniforms scurried about taking care of others in the same, or even worse condition than himself who littered the ground.

He forced himself into a seated position breathing laboriously, a sheen of sweat coated his skin despite the biting chill of the desert air; he concluded that it was simply because of the effort that it took for him to move that brought it on. Looking around the groups he noticed curious faces watching him, from what he could see of their faces they had been in the first two cars that he had passed through on his way to the engine but none of them was the small girl that had aroused him from his slumber on the train. His eyes roved over the motionless forms beneath the white sheets, his eyes fell upon a small group of miltian officers who were fussing over a small lump hidden by a equally blanched sheet.

'I wonder...' his thoughts trailed as he shifted onto his knees and pushed himself onto his unsteady feet; almost immediately he doubled over, the source of his pain now known to be his badly bruised abdomen. His shirt hung open exposing his bandages that laced across his middle as further proof of the injury. Reluctantly he allowed himself to fall back down onto his knees his breath coming to him in shallow gasps. He heard voices calling out but they were distant in sounding as he once again got to his feet, he grit his teeth as he braced himself for the pain upon taking his first step forward.

The walk was a blur even though he knew, even wrapped up in the haze of pain that he was walking at nearly a snail's pace. The boy was out of it, not acknowledging the militian officers' presence around him or the fact that the blank sheets hid people's faces from the view of those who cared to cast a glance. Renos hardly noticed the Sisters backing off upon his approach giving him space as he finally allowed himself to collapse onto his knees taking in shallow breaths. Now as he gulped down air could he feel their eyes on him as well as those of the train's passengers but paid them no mind his vision was beginning to swirl around the edges, exhaustion from overexertion beckoning him to sleep. Before him a small figure was one of those completely covered, tapping into the last of his reserves he reached out a hand to gently pull back the covering.

Beneath was the face of the one he had been looking for. Little Angela appeared to be sleeping but he could smell the scent of death that rested upon her form, her countenance was peaceful betraying none of the fear that she had expressed in his recollections. All that remained as evidence of the events were cuts that mingled blood with tears and smudges of dirt, dried crimson appearing as rust in her hair. His vision began to fade as the blackness that had lingered at the edges of his sight took over. The boy's lips mouthed an inaudible sentence as his eyes slid closed, his body falling to the side into one of the Sisters' arms. "I'm sorry Angela."

* * *

Okay, I really feel the need to stress reviews. As of now about 40 people have read up to chapter 3, yet there is only one person kind enough to leave a review. I'm not trying to be pushy all I want is to improve my writing as much as possible and make a good story. In order to do that I need reviews, please!

And thank you **_demon-boy-chrono _**for giving me a brief review that I greatly appreciate.

Sorry about the tyrrany on comments, I just felt the need to state my opinion...though I kinda think that I over did it...


	5. Chapter 5 part 1: Feverish Recoil

I'm extremely sorry for not getting this updated sooner! I had a very solid mental block and its been that way for a long time so I'm trying to get myself up to date on this story. As a means to keep readers entertained I am going to post this chapter is pieces as I come up with them.

Enjoy!

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Muffled sounds made their way to the boy's ears waking him from his slumber, slowly his eyes flickered open only to be welcomed by dimness and stiff limbs. On top if him lay a thick blanket, another was folded into a makeshift pillow beneath his head. Sitting up he looked towards the source of the light; it was filtering through the windshield and over a row of seats. 'I must be in the back of one of the convent's cars.' he thought, his mind still trudging through a fog of drowsiness. 'What..happened?' He held his head in his palm focusing on how he had ended up in the vehicle. 'Angela... That's right.' he mused, 'I found her...and apologized.' His eyes darkened at the very thought of the girl's death having been his fault, but at the same time he knew that dwelling on it would get him nowhere.

He placed his hand on the handle to the back door of the car and gave it a gentle twist, the light of the late afternoon cast a shadow of light across his face causing him to squint in precaution to opening the door all the way. The heat of the outdoors rushed in taking the place of the slight warmth of the interior, the humidity was intense but he ignored it, he preferred this kind of weather rather than the chill of winter anyway. Swinging his legs over the edge he settled his feet on the ground, only it didn't feel as solid as he had looked. Renos fell to his knees as a wave of dizziness came over him.

'What the..hell is wrong with me?' He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to clear his head, when he opened his eyes he found that he had only made it worse. A cold sweat covered his face despite the heat that engulfed him.

"Renos!" called out a female's voice, looking up he could just barely make out the blurred figure rushing towards him; he could swear that there was more than one, but he wasn't about to trust his failing vision. He felt a warmth press against his back, it wasn't until then that he realized just how cold his body felt. "You should be resting." The voice was right next to him now, that explained the warm touch that was now heavily supporting his body. Renos didn't argue and allowed himself to be assisted back underneath his blanket, the heat of the blanket warming him up.

His eyes met with those of the white-haired woman's, crimson in color. There was no mistaking those eyes, the woman he now recognized was Sister Azmaria. The boy opened his mouth to speak only to be hushed by his caretaker.

"You used your powers when you were on the train, didn't you?" Her question was more of an accusation in his ears. He held his gaze level with her eyes.

"So what if I did?" he murmured, his voice weak yet defiant. He searched her face for her reaction but his vision was too impaired to decipher it, he could only guess that she wasn't pleased.

"You know that using them are taboo." she paused as she fretted over his blanket some more. "Don't you remember that promise you made to me, that you wouldn't use them unless it was in self defense? And even then you weren't really suppose to use them."

He remembered that promise so vividly that it was as if he was experiencing that moment all over again especially with his actual sight of the present having been rendered useless. "I know I promised, but I had been an ignorant child at the time. I didn't know any better...promises can't be kept." There was a sharp intake of air above him, that was all it took for him to know what she was thinking of right at that moment; the promise that she had broken, leaving him at the orphanage those six years ago.

"Renos, I had no choice. If you stayed it would have put you and many others at risk." Azmaria's voice was firm but if he focused enough he could hear that she was just barely holding back a torrent of tears. The boy narrowed his eyes on the blurred figure of Azmaria.

"Yes, you did have a choice. Whether or not to break your promise." his words cut through Sister Azmaria's heart like a knife through hot butter. The tears now flowed freely down her cheeks as Renos turned his back to her.

"You're making this harder for me than it needs to be. I've questioned my decision to go through with leaving you at that orphanage and came to a conclusion that you would be better off there than with me. At least there were children around your age that you could have gotten along with." She stopped as she slid out of the back of the vehicle onto the ground. "It wasn't just hard on you Renos." With that she closed the door and locked it leaving the boy with the unfamiliar sensation of guilt taking over him despite himself, and with that guilt came frustration for having brought up such a forbidden topic.

'As if I hadn't imagined what it took for you to give me up.' his face scrunched up as a pain throbbed in his head. 'And my powers...I didn't use them.' He shivered and drew the blanket closer to his body, 'so how did the recoil show itself?' He squeezed his eyes shut as he concentrated his thoughts on answering that lone question. 'I haven't ever been this bad after using my powers.' he mused, "what did I do?" he growled at himself weakly clutching a fistful of blankets tighter.

Try as he might nothing came to his mind, that very last moment that he could clearly recall was Angela's mother being thrown from the train. His anger towards the devil that had preformed the misdeed had utterly engulfed him, when his anger had reached its peak his consciousness had retreated.

'Dammit! Why can't I remember?!' he mentally cursed. Slowly he fell into a a fitful sleep, the explanation for his weakness keeping him from feeling at ease.

* * *

'I really hope that he'll be alright for while, I'd stay with him if only I didn't any other duties to attend to as of this moment.' Sister Azmaria sighed in defeat as she returned to assist the other Sisters while rubbing the last of her remaining tears from her face. A Sister going through the medical supplies noticed the approaching comrade and spoke.

"So how is he?"

"The same." murmured Azmaria in a disheartened tone as she knelt down next to the other Sister to help her sort out the remainder of the supplies sent over from the responding branches of the Order. "He only seems to be getting worse, though he did wake up. I'm sure that he's asleep by now." The other Sister frowned.

"You should be allowed to go and take care of him." she replied, "after all weren't you and another Sister suppose to be heading over to the San Francisco Branch?"

"Yeah, but we can't say that we foresaw this devil attack coming. It's going to be a while before I go anywhere." Again a sigh slipped through Azmaria's lips. The other Sister slapped sorted medical items from Azmaria's had, surprised she looked up.

"Says who? You're orders were to go to San Francisco Branch, not to stay here and help!" she snapped giving Azmaria a frustrated look. Regaining her composure Sister Azmaria's countenance slipped into a passive expression.

"To assist in this clean up is not the only reason that I am still here. I feel that it would be better for Renos to be allowed a period of rest so that he can recover."

* * *

That's all I have for now, again I am sorry about the delay and for the shortness of this chapter. I'm trying as hard as I can pushing myself to my absolte limits in school personal agendas and story writing. Please review!


	6. Chapter 5 part 2: Feverish Recoil

Extremely sorry for the especially long wait. I know that there's now reall excuse that can be made for not updating for as long as this, I'm just not all that great at keeping certain promises that pertain to having to do work...

My mind had gone on an overly long vacation and refused to come back and tnus I forced it to return for a short while. I'm trying but doing to overworking myself on god damn school projects at the end of last semester I've been in what a teacher of my would call a "burnout" and its been really hard for me to bring myself back.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Feverish Recoil**: _continued..._

"I see." replied the other Sister hesitantly, she paused in her work as she looked for the proper words to use. "I understand your reasoning for such but I really think that you should head out. After all this is going to take a while and I don't think that you'll want to get caught up in this mess. Besides," she said with a smile, " you need to keep an eye on that boy of yours." Azmaria was set aback for a moment, she opened her mouth to voice her disapproval but was instantly silenced. "I requisitioned some help from one of the other Sisters here. You have other things to do, and you're a long ways away from San Francisco as it is, so I think that it's about time that you got going. Okay?"

Sister Azmaria frowned at first still feeling that it would be best if she stayed but she also knew that she was on the clock and had to get to San Francisco. Although her tardiness would more than likely be excused due to the incident that had derailed the train; But any further hesitation would probably need to be explained. Reluctantly she submitted to the Sister who was very pleased with Azmaria's decision, almost as it she didn't want her to be there in the first place but she let it pass without a extended exchange of words.

* * *

"When will he be here?"

"Soon, Miss Teresa. They ran into a delay when their train was assaulted.." a brief pause emanated the lack of a better explanation, "by a devil."

At the mention of the term _devil_ she flinched ever so slightly from her still form as she peered out the large glass window-pain being pelted by heavy torrents of rain. The man behind her watched her lack of movement from where he stood, it was a rare sight to ever see her still quietly but this was a complete change of behavior from her norm.

If she merely focused her gaze on the glass itself the reflection of her pale scarlet eyes staring straight back at her; but forcing her sight to look through the vicious streams running down the pain the outside just barely came into view, though she didn't need to see it to what what was there for she had looked out this window so many times that the image was imprinted upon her memory. Just as she began to turn she stopped, something had moved. She turned her full attention back to the window her eyes straining to find where the movement had been or just to prove that it was just her imagination.

Pressing her face against the glass she brought up the image of the grounds before her to the forefront of her mind; she found the the distortion. At the gate something of a dark color had moved, a blur of color that blended in with most of the dreary scenery. Keeping her gaze focused on the gate the blur moved again coming ever closer to the building in which she stood. Her eyes lit up upon her discovery and her lips curved into a smile as the blur began to finally take shape.

Her words came out as quiet as a whisper as she spoke softly to the glass, "he's here..."

Pushing away from the window she ran past the building's head officer who had been watching her curiously and put all her weight into opening his heavy oak door forcing her way through. He cast his eyes over his shoulder to watch her leave before approaching the window himself to affirm the girl's actions.

Picking up his phone he dialed in an extention and continued to look at the murky weather outside, glancing down at a car the had pulled up while waiting for a response.

"Sir?" answered a female voice.

A figure emerged from the the vehicle and moved to the back and opened the doors, the person assisted another from the back before going back in to retrieve two small suitcases. Even from this distance through the blurred window he could still recognize the first figure as she helped the other up the steps into the building's main entrance.

"Our _special case _is here." he stated calmly into the receiver, "be sure to welcome them warmly."

"Of course, Father Gilliam." replied the woman as the said man placed the phone back down on his desk.

* * *

It hurt, his whole body burned with a pain that nearly debilitated him, to twitch sent a fiery response through his muscles; to move a limb set his body ablaze inside. Despite having days to recover from the recoil of utilizing his powers his condition hadn't changed in the slightest. Even wrapped tightly in swathes of thick blankets he still felt the biting chill of the freeing rain just outside the vehicle that cradled him. Although his mind was hovering between states of consciousness he was aware that the old ford was slowly trudging on in the poor weather that reflected his own inner turmoil that he could quite lie to rest.

'No matter how hard I concentrate I can't recall any farther than that point.' he cursed as he stared bleary-eyed at side of the car the lay across from him. 'But if I didn't consciously use my powers then...' as his thoughts traveled into unwanted territory he allowed himself to trail off. Closing his eyes he focused on the movement of the car. Edge forward, slow down, turn, accelerate, slow down, stop, repeat. The slightly muffled sounds of car horns blaring, angry shouts, trollies rolling by on their rails and vender's carts rang in his sensitive ears. They were definitely in San Francisco, they just had to be.

Tuning out the world around him everything became silent and he finally allowed himself to rest his heavy eyelids for the remainder of the ride.

* * *

He had been silent for the entire ride with the exception of his occasional labored breathing as his fever rose. It killed her inside to see him like this and tortured herself with how she could've prevented this from happening.

"Madeline?" she murmured quietly just barely snapping the other Sister out of her trance that had been making her stare out into the space beyond the windshield.

"Uh, yeah?" she answered quickly nearly jumping out of her seat since the car had been silent with the exception of a few sparce conversations between the Sisters.

"Could you check on him for me?" the worried Sister queried while forcing herself to keep her eyes on the road.

"Of course." peeped Madeline with a cheerful smile as she turned around in her seat, the boy in question was still covered in layers of blankets. It appeared that he hadn't so much as stirred ever since they had left the train wreck. Slowly her bright smile fell from her countenance and frown made its first debut on her lips. Azmaria had every reason to be anxious about little Renos, the poor boy was painstakingly weak now; it was apparent on his strained expressions of feigned well-being.

There was no way that she would be able to lie to Azmaria about it, she'd find out once they officially at the San Francisco Branch.

"There's no change Az. He's not getting any better, but we can look at this way at least he's not getting any worse." At this news the Sister sighed permitting her tense shoulders to slump.

"True, but..." Azmaria's voice trailed off unsure of what to say.

"Look!" exclaimed Madeline pointing just a short ways down the road. Her eyes followed the indicated path, it was the Order's building surrounded by a lone wall and was partially distanced from the other buildings that they were only just now passing. "We're here!"

* * *

That's what I have for now, I've been procrastinating in completing a time line on the Cold War and been sick for the past three days. I'll try my absolute best to update again soon. If need be I'll set up a days for me to update no matter what.

(That's probably how it's going to end up.-o)


	7. Chapter 6 On God's Doorstep

Again sorry it took so long to update this story but I hope that this is enough for now until Saturday. Yes that means that I'm going to be instituting a deadline for myself so that I can get my updates on here sooner than I have been. I'm aiming for twice a week, if not that then at least once a week.

Anyway, enjoy!

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**Chapter 6**

**On God's Doorstep**

* * *

Azmaria knocked on the large door anxiously, periodically peering over her shoulder to check on the boy on the back of the Ford. The door opened shortly after a time-worn sister greeting them with a kind and generous smile until she picked up on the tension in the air. "Is there something wrong?" she queried while briefly examining them and realized that someone was missing. "Where's the boy?"

The other sister glanced at her temporary partner waiting for her to give an answer.

"He's in the car." she replied curtly.

"Why didn't he come in with you then?"

"He's sleeping."

The elder Sister was quickly loosing her patience with the young white haired nun and her voice began to raise in pitch. "Then wake him up!" Sister Azmaria looked up at the woman coldly, a rare sight to behold.

"He's ill." she answered sharply catching the other Sister off guard, "he's too weak to move on his own," she continued her voice returning to its usual softness, "would you mind calling for assistance to help carry him inside?"

The woman stared at the younger woman in astonishment she had only been informed on the kindness that the Sister possessed but nothing about the the chilling authority she had just laid witness to and turned away in frustration. She walked up to a counter off to the side of the foyer and briefly spoke to a person inside before pulling away as a young man stepped out from behind it.

"He'll get the boy for you." spoke the woman sharply, daring the ruby eyed Sister to rebuke her tone of voice, only to her surprise to receive a completely different response than anticipated.

"Thank you." said Azmaria with a genuine smile that presented her gratitude. The young man bowed slightly with a light blush of embarrassment crossing his features

"I'll be right back." he called over his shoulder as he stepped out into the down pour as the others in the foyer watched.

He made his way curtly down the steps to the back of the vehicle without caring to shield himself from the rain. Looking into the back of the ford he caught sight of the said boy that he was supposed to bring in. The boy's face was heavily flushed, his features contorted in pain while his shivering body lay beneath countless swathes of blankets. Reluctantly he reached out his hand carefully placing it on the boy's forehead, instantly he felt a severe heat rise up from the contact. As he pulled his hand away the boy's hazy blue eyes opened a slit before sliding effortlessly shut again.

The young man's passive face took on a look of concern for the young boy. Reaching out he cautiously pulled the boy and his layers of blankets closer to the edge. Tightly wrapping the layers around the ill child taking care to cover his face to shield him from the relentless rain and scooped him up into his arms. Unexpectedly the child curled up against his body, his head resting on his chest. His countenance flashed from surprise to fatherly as he moved to close the doors of the ford without the assistance of his hands. Doing his best to close the back doors to the ford he headed back up the steps to reenter the foyer just as a girl came rushing down the staircase.

The girl's expression was extreme elation at the arrival of the the one that had been referred to as the _special case_. Everyone in the room looked up at her spot on the stairs, her labored breathing from her sprint through the building being the only sound besides the pattering of the rain that kept the silence at bey. As her heavy breathing ebbed the silence intensified, the sound of thunder rumbled just beyond the opened door at the young man's back as a flash of lighting cast shadows over the figure and what he held in his arms. Advancing another step forward her eyes fell upon the relatively large swath of blankets the man held with great care.

Someone shifted catching the girl's attention, it was the white haired Sister; she approached the man and graced her hands at the top of the hooded bundle fondly with an expression of sadness.

From the stairwell there was the abrupt sound of foot steps rushing down to the foyer but no one paid them any mind and continued to watch the unmoving bundle that had been carried in from the storm. "Teresa!" shouted the stranger as she came into view snapping the said girl from her stupor. The group's concentration shifted to that of the newcomer. "I told you not to run in the halls young lady." The strict voice came from a blond headed Sister as she took a firm hold on Teresa's ear causing her to yelp with surprise and pain. Looking down on the gathering in the foyer she relinquished her hold on the girl's ear and sighed. "So this was what you were so worked up about." muttered the woman almost inaudibly as she walked calmly down the remaining steps to the the ground floor. Walking up to the Sister standing closest to the bundle she spoke. "You must be Sister Azmaria," she said warmly smiling at the fellow Sister before lifting her hand to draw back the hood of the bundle, "and this must be Renos." She brushed his light blond bangs from his face, he flinched at the contact which caused a fall into place on her countenance.

"Yes." Sister Azmaria answered quietly in response to the statement. The other Sister drew away from the boy just enough to turn and look at her.

"I apologize for the disturbance," she said softly as she spared another quick glance at the boy, "I'm glad I didn't wake him. My name's Caroline." She proffered her hand to Sister Azmaria looking genuinely apologetic. Sister Caroline released the white haired Sister's hand and stepped towards the other arriving Sister, "and welcome, Madeline right?" she greeted with a warm smile which rose the Sister's spirits.

"Yes it is." she replied taking her turn in shaking Sister Caroline's hand returning the smile.

"The both of you and Renos included must be worn out from your long venture here," she commented and called softly over her shoulder,"Teresa."

Behind the Sisters Teresa remained frozen on the stairwell her eyes wide with fear for the scene before brought forth suppressed memories of the body of a familiar boy beneath a white sheet being carried to an equally blanched stretcher. Forcefully she shook her head as she heard Sister Caroline call her name and folded her hands neatly in front of her. "Yes, Sister Caroline?"

"Would you show Sister Azmaria and Sister Madeline to their respective rooms while Caleb takes Renos up to the infirmary?"

"Of course." she answered uniformly before turning her attention to the two in question, "if you would follow me I'll lead you to your assigned rooms." Azmaria and Madeline picked up their own small suitcases and hovered briefly over Renos in Caleb's arms giving him a curt farewell then proceeded to follow Teresa up the stairs and deeper into the building.

The two Sisters fell into step behind the girl watching the varying hallways as they passed by. In front of them Teresa began to lessen her pace, pausing just outside a door on the second floor of the woman's dorm she turned to face them.

"This is your assigned room Sister Madeline." she announced quietly as she bowed her head permitted the Sister to pass into the room. Once the door was closed Teresa allowed herself to raise head head, "yours is a little further down the hall." she said as she began walking briskly once again, Azmaria kept pace alongside her in silence.

Upon reaching the last few doors prior to the connection to the rest of the building's facilities Teresa stopped again.

"Your room." Sister Azmaria entered the opened door and put her simple suitcase down on the equally plain bed and turned around before the young girl could release the handle.

"Would you mind showing me to the infirmary, its been quite some time since I've last been here?" she inquired while smiling kindly. The girl was set aback for a moment but slowly nodded as she lead the way. "I'm sorry about having been so abrupt."

"N-no it's alright." Teresa stuttered. Thoughts of the boy flashed through her mind, "Sister Azmaria?" she queried.

"Just Azmaria is fine, but yes?"

"Okay, Azmaria," she started, "wh-what exactly is wrong with him?"she asked as her voice grew in strength along with her confidence.

The Sister's eyes became downcast, "to be absolutely honest," she murmured softly, "I don't know."

Both were silent until they reached a set of double doors. "Just beyond these doors is the infirmary."

"Thank you." whispered Azmaria as she placed a hand on the door where she paused and spoke over her shoulder, "there is definitely one thing that I'm sure of though.."

Teresa kept still debating whether of not to follow the Sister into the room as well as listen to what she wanted to say; she was curious.

"He will recover, he's not one to give in so easily, especially to illness." she finished as she cocked a smile just before passing through the double doors to check up on her charge;Teresa cautiously followed after.

Inside was a large room that was purely white in color. Beds were lined up and clothed in crisp white sheets, rails were in the ceiling above each individual bed with bleached white curtains permitting some privacy to the occupant. It was barren, each bed was empty which was considered both a blessing and a curse. In the corner closest to the nurses' station a curtain was drawn; both Azmaria and Teresa approached quietly.

At the sound of their footsteps against the linoleum floor a face poked out from behind the curtain startling both the Magdalene Order residents. Following the face came a body clothed in the traditional blue garb of the Order with the lone exception of the band on her upper arm declaring that the woman was a part of the nursing staff; in an apparent huff she marched straight up to them. "Who are you and what are you doing out after curfew?!" she demanded. "Especially you Teresa!" pointing an accusing finger at the girl who in turn shrunk back behind Azmaria.

"I'm Sister Azmaria, Renos' caretaker." replied the newcomer, "and I gave Teresa official permission to come here. Is that a problem?"

The woman looked between the two giving them suspicious glances, when the Ruby eyed Sister didn't flinch she stepped back. "No, there's no problem with that Sister Azmaria." sighed the woman, "come with me." She lead the two behind the curtain to where the boy lay. "For the most part he's completely unresponsive particularly to sound," she commented as she dragged over two chairs from the nurses' station. "I've given him some medicine a little while ago so hopefully that will kick in soon." The expression on the woman's countenance was that of severe concern as was Azmaria's only hers had a softness to it as a parent would look upon their own child.

"Its only a matter of time now." murmured Azmaria, the woman concurred with a nod of the head, Teresa simply stood just within the confines of the curtain looking on observing the boy's flushed features. She could clearly see that he was in pain, glancing at the two Sisters she figured that it was all the more apparent to them. Daring to take a step closer she moved towards the tray that had been rolled up to his bed on the rim of a bowl on it was a wet cloth. She let her thoughts slip away as she dipped the cloth into the icy water and rung it out, leaning over the bed she gently wiped his face clean of sweat and dipped it back in the bowl. Again she rung it out only when she reached over the bed again she placed the cloth on his forehead and left it and pulled up one of the chairs that the nurse had brought next to the bed and watched him. Both Sisters watched the small happening occur and smiled a small smile and stepped out from the curtain with a strong feeling that the girl would be reluctant to leave even if it was demanded of her.

* * *

Hope you liked this update; I'll make sure to keep up to date on this from now on. I promise.

Saturday is when the next one will come out no matter what! !


	8. Chapter 7 Return of the Weary

**Chapter 7**

**Return of the Weary**

* * *

**  
**

"Has he made any progress?" inquired a man seated behind his desk with his chin resting heavily upon his folded hands. The white haired Sister Azmaria looked upon him with a mournful expression and said nothing. "I see," he murmured thoughtfully, "Has he woken up since arriving?"

Azmaria slowly shook her head, he could clearly see the fatigue that plagued her.

"Although he has yet to wake up it doesn't mean you should torture yourself with lack of sleep," he commented as a means to lighten up the mood.

"That's hard to do when..." she trailed off for a moment, "Someone is suffering and there's nothing you can do, Father Gilliam," Azmaria looked at him with an expression of desperation that didn't belong on her face. Rising from his chair he moved towards her as she began to shudder, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. He loosely embraced her allowing her to bury her tearstained face to retreat into the fabric of his blue uniform.

"You've been put through so much over the years that you didn't deserve," his voice was quiet yet firm, "but you're strong and so is he, I'm sure." Putting his hands firmly on her shoulders he pulled away, looking her in the eye, "After all he _is _the son of a powerful devil."

The Sister slowly nodded her head casting her eyes to the floor. "That's what I'm worried about the most." Father Gilliam released a deep sigh.

"No wonder your hair is the color that it is Sister Azmaria. You keep worrying yourself sick over things that are beyond your reach." He stepped away from her and gave her a solid pat on the shoulder, "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but until then I want you to get some rest you're exhausted."

She opened her mouth to speak but he interjected.

"While you're at the San Francisco Branch you are under my jurisdiction, and my orders to be followed without question. Your orders now are to take it easy," he smiled kindly as he returned to his seat, "You than deserve it."

Once more Azmaria slowly nodded her head, "Yes, I think I'll do that," she backed out of his office with a slight bow of her head and plodded hesitantly in the direction of her dorm.

The world around him was dark yet comforting and he reveled in it with outspoken pleasure, it felt so much better than in the world of the waking where his body was engulfed in pain and weakness that made him feel ashamed. Only a short time ago had he been partially conscious, enough to recall a face peering at him from where he stood in the soaking rain; the sensation of rain pelting a barrier around him as he was carried from one place to a much warmer and dryer one. He had been aware of the voices that floated around him speaking softly, he had sensed at the time that it had been a means to avoid from disturbing his much needed rest.

'I don't see why they even bothered,' he mused as his spiritual body winced, 'Even with all the rest I was getting it wasn't assisting in my recuperation.'

His physical body was still very much asleep, fitfully but asleep none the less; internally his thoughts revved full of activity, his spirit taking on a physical manifestation in his mind. Again he grimaced as another streak of pain hit him.

'D-dammit. It's gained on me for it to affect me here,' he cursed painstakingly, 'If this isn't dealt with soon then things might become too much to handle.' He closed his eyes allowing himself to fall to his knees with his arms wrapped tightly around his body. Beads of sweat formed above his furrowed brow. His safe haven had been penetrated. He was succumbing completely and utterly, and there was nothing he could do about it.

She placed her hand gently onto his forehead and quickly withdrew it, "No matter what I do your temperature just keeps going up." For the umpteenth time she put an ice cold wet face cloth to his face to clear it of sweat before placing it on his forehead and leaned back in her chair as she sighed.

Teresa was exhausted, she had been nursing the boy back to health for the past two days with little sleep. When she had first started at her task it seemed simple enough, take care of him until he got better, but it wasn't so easy. The monotonous duty of wiping his face with a cool cloth as a means to comfort him became irritating fast, especially when she had so much she wanted to talk to him about. Such things that she had been contemplating since she had found out about someone being transferred to the San Francisco branch that – like her, was a special case; but now the idea seemed trivial to what was going on in front of her.

Her emotions were a mix of exasperation and concern. The annoyance was of her own creation she had never been a patient person ever since she was young, and having to wait almost always made her anxious, a feeling that she preferred to do without. As for her concern she was deeply worried for the boy's welfare, not for her own sake but for his. Azmaria had curtly but kindly explained to her that he had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the past few days. Though she never really did explain how the illness had come on. Teresa had assumed that it was a common sickness but as time wore on and nothing changed it appeared to be something more. "What's wrong with you?" she murmured softly almost to herself her eyes filled with fear and worry. She briefly looked at the clock. Again it was turning into another late night and despite her desperation to stay awake to keep watch over the boy her eyes slid shut as she rested her head on his bed welcoming sleep at last.

Just beyond his awareness of the severe pain that was engulfing him another sense broke through. At first it was faint, coming off as a pulse that he was unfamiliar with. Upon realizing its presence it grew in strength immediately overcoming his already overwhelmed senses. It cut into him with its sharp intensity at quick-paced intervals causing him to unwillingly permit a scream to pass over his lips. His eyes flew open in the dimly lit room room, his pupils remaining as narrow slits out of sheer agony.

As quickly as the pain had struck it dissipated from his body leaving him wide awake panting laboriously. It was through this temporary disorientation that he heard the sound of someone scrambling next to him. In the absence of the pain his mind returned to him with slow steps as it settled itself.

The prickling of cool air against his clammy skin, the scent of sterilizing alcohol, and a faint ringing began to grow within his eardrums. It increased its intensity making him cringe. "Stop," he rasped, "Stop the noise..."

Abruptly the ringing stopped. He opened his eyes with caution, blurred vision cleared to present the visage of a girl's face hovering over him, her strawberry blond locks creating a halo around her face.

"Ma – "

A torrent of footsteps echoed in the distance drowning out his small voice.

"Teresa, what's the matter?! What happened?"

The cacophony of voices filled Renos's ears making him shrink into his bed as best he could. There was a splitting headache mounting within his skull that was being made worse by the unending chain of questions.

"Quiet!" Teresa breathed a sigh of relief when the on duty nurse and Azmaria broke through the crowd of Sister's who wished to offer their benevolence to the ill-fated child. Azmaria glanced at the Sister's and clapped her hands, "Dismissed." They receded with reluctance, who was this Sister to send them away.

"What was it that happened?" inquired the nurse.

"Don't tell me you didn't hear him from where you were," Teresa commented, "He woke up," shrugging her shoulders, "Well, maybe screamed, and then woke up. Whichever came first."

Azmaria's eyes flashed to the boy cowering in his sheets, "Renos, had you been a paler you probably would have been able to hide yourself quite well," she traversed the short distance to his unoccupied bedside, a warm, motherly smile filling her features. Raising her hand she brushed his bangs from his eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"Az – mar – ia," he coughed.

"Yes, it's me," she cooed.

"Whe – re – " his voice broke into a coughing fit that shook his entire body. Wordlessly he fell back against the sheets his face once more braking out into a sweat.

Azmaria looked on feeling helpless and it hurt, each pained breath he took would carve permanent crevices into her tender heart.

Renos' panting began to ease, opening his mouth to speak she stopped him.

"Even though you're awake you still need your rest," she murmured to him smoothing his hair. "Please be well soon," she whispered gently placing a kiss to his cheek.

Beneath her she felt him recoil from her touch, another laceration in her already wounded heart; she said nothing more as she backed away. Her eyes caught those of the nurse. The woman in turn gave a nod and went to fetch some medicine.

Turning to face Teresa she forced a weak smile into place, "It's late and you've been taking such good care of him, but I feel that it would be best if you slept in your bed tonight."

Teresa was set aback, "What do you mean, you assigned me to take care of him until he got better, and that's exactly what I intend to do," she growled standing her ground. Azmaria's expression did not change.

"I am revoking my order. From here on I'll tend to him," she said with a firm tone that startled Teresa. The girl turned on her heel and tore through the curtain out into the hall slamming the double doors behind her.

Opening the curtain the nurse entered with a small ornate jar that fit in the palm of her hand, "That was a rather loud exit," she commented casting a glance at Azmaria, "She certainly had become attached to her task here, that's something you'll find to be very rare with her."

Azmaria allowed a breath to escape her lips, resting her eyes for a moment, "That's why I sent her away, as much as I want him to have relationships with people at the same time I don't want them to hurt him," she looked up into the nurse's face, "I assume you've read the reports concerning him?"

Opening the jar carefully her face became impassive, "I have." Leaning over Renos's small form she parted his lips with her fingers with great care and slipped the medicine into his mouth whispering a quiet command, "Swallow," he did so. The nurse put the top back on the jar, looking Azmaria in the eye, "But I believe that it would be harder for him to be alone any longer," both sets of eyes set themselves on the boy's face. "Humans may have been the ones to inflict the damage but they are also the only ones who can patch the hole."

The night passed quickly evaporating into day. His eyes opened as the sun peeked over the horizon outside the curtain that hid him from the world. "I'm glad that you're finally awake," his eyes widened in surprise leaving his drowsiness at the back of his mind allowing his thoughts to start back up again.

Fuzzy memories of the pain, the liquid fire running through his veins that delved deep into the recesses of his soul to tear him to pieces, and the girl.

"I was concerned about you," her eyes looked so soft and comforting. He thrust himself out of that way of thinking and mentally shook himself.

"We're in San Francisco aren't we?" he murmured, his voice hoarse. Azmaria nodded her confirmation. "At the Order or – " he trailed off as the memories of the pain resurfaced.

"We made it to the Order," she replied with a smile lighting her soft features as she adjusted his blankets, "That was almost a week ago."

Renos immediately snapped into a righted position only to regret it and fall back into his pillows with a groan.

Azmaria relinquished a sigh, "I thought that perhaps you would be more weary of the recoil's effects on your body. This is the worst that it's been," she returned to her seat leaning towards him. "Your injuries have healed, but your body hasn't fully recovered from the amount of energy you used."

With caution Renos sat himself up in bed, he pulled back the sheets his eyes lingering on Azmaria before he placed his bare feet into the cold tile floor using the bed as his support. The Sister made no motion to stop him and instead followed him as he exited the curtained off area. They were greeted by the rays of sunlight penetrating the fabric drawn closed in the windows.

He tittered on his feet but didn't stumble. Stopping five paces from his bed he glanced at the drawn curtains hiding the sun.

"Why did you come back for me at the orphanage?" his tone was nonplussed.

Azmaria involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath, eyes misted over, but no tears fell. "I came back for you because I couldn't stand to be without you any longer," she whispered with a faint smile forming, "And I was permitted to leave the Order to – "

"So you were given a mission that pertained to me which was how you were able to freely leave your duties," his words were icy like the glare from his eyes as he turned slightly to look at her. Casting his statement over his shoulder, "You were sent to retrieve me by order of Sister Kate, were you not?"

He paused there, impregnable silence filled the air with uncomfortable vibes of stress that reverberated off the distant walls. The Sister righted herself and looked him straight in the eye, "I was," her voice came out in a firm tone, "But that isn't the entirety of it." She would've sworn she had just seen his ears twitch, it reminded her of years passed when the boy regretted something he had said. "I had been pushing all these years to be able to go and see you, but I was always away on marching orders while helping to train the next generation of exorcists."

She waited for a response but when none came she continued. Loosening up she took slow measured steps toward him and stopped.

"The girls missed you, as well as everyone else – "

Renos snapped around to face her with a face of rage, "And yet they never did anything about it! You all left me alone!" He ran to the closest door dodging a Sister as she entered to start her shift.

Her eyes traveled from the boy to Azmaria and approached her, "It will take time, but I believe that someday he'll forgive us humans for not being perfect."

To the Sister's words she gave a slow nod, "I hope so, I don't know if I would be able to if our roles were reversed."

He forced his body to move ignoring the stiffness that made his bones ache and his muscles scream, he just wanted to get away from them, all of them, the conniving creatures that they were. His feet nearly flew across the floorboards, throwing himself up against a door he found himself outside. Sprinting once again he propelled himself into the only tree that the courtyard contained within its confines of brick.

Renos' breath came in quick gasps, he had put too much strain on his still recovering body. He hissed, the effects of his labored escape beginning to settle a blanket of discomfort over him. His eyes became clouded as energy was drained by his legion to mend his broken body.

Unconsciously his mind slipped into memories he had of Azmaria being his caretaker as a young child. The way she was so careful with him, tried her best to meet his every need, and how she could never stay mad at him for long if at all. Shaking his head he dismissed those thoughts, "Humans show their true nature when crisis hits, she can't always be that way." Despite his words of reassurance he returned to his reverie of how things used to be. He drew in his legs wrapping his arms around them he gave in to dry, silent tears that had built up in is chest with no place to go. His eyes drooped detaching himself from the world that had hurt him so deeply.

* * *

"_Look Azmaria he's walking!" called Mabel in excitement. The young white haired girl rushed back into her room from the hall. A smile lit her exhausted face. _

_Before her stood a small toddler taking cautious steps across the floorboards to get to the hallway. His big blue eyes looked up at the sound of returning footsteps and smiled. He hurried to the door to latch onto Azmaria's leg letting out a small whimper of distress._

"_Guess he doesn't want his mama to leave just yet," the girl giggled. A blush rose in Azmaria's cheeks but she kept quiet bending over to scoop up the little mischief maker. Cradling him in her arms she leaned in giving the boy a kiss on the forehead before handing the child back to the other sister._

"_Please make sure that he doesn't wander around outside."_

"_Yes Sister Azmaria," replied Mabel accompanied by a nod, "Sister Kate won't know he's here."_

* * *

"_Renos, Renos," called Mabel in a panic, "not good, not good," she murmured under her breath. A soft giggle echoed from further down the hall. "There he is," she ran down the corridor stopping just outside a door that was open a crack. Glancing around her eyes caught on a nameplate off to the side, inscribed in wood was 'Sister Kate'. She froze where she stood in the hall, her hand hovering right beside the doorknob._

"_Come in," commanded the head of the Order. Pressing her hand against the door she pushed it inward allowing herself to pass into the threshold of Sister Kate's office. Permitting her eyes to leave the floor she saw the little tot cradled in the Sister's arms sucking hungrily on a digit. His eyes widened in delight when he saw her. He began to squirm, Sister Kate rocked him back and forth calming him but he remained awake his crystal blue orbs focused on Mabel. "Apparently he's familiar with you Sister Mabel."_

"_It would seem so ma'am," she mentally cursed herself for letting him out of her sight for a few minutes when she went to heat up a bottle of milk for him._

"_And do you?" she asked her eyes peering at her through the spectacles perched on her nose. There was no way she was going to be able to hide the toddler from Sister Kate anymore._

_Relenting a sigh, "Yes ma'am. His name is Renos."_

"_Quite an unusual name for a child," commented Sister Kate._

"_We named him," came Mabel's quick response._

"_'We?'" queried the sister shifting Renos in her arms._

"_We, being the Sisters present upon the discovery of Rosette and Chrono."_

_If Sister kate had been set aback by this onset of information she didn't show it in her stern features, "That was just over a year ago. Is this how long the child had been kept secret from me?"_

_Mabel nodded her her, "Yes ma'am."_

"_For what reason did he need to be kept secret from me?" queried Sister Kate who followed up with another question. "Is he _their_ child?"_

"_We're not sure ma'am, but we thought it would be safer for him if few people knew about his existence here in the Order." Sister Mabel wrung her hands in front of her out of mental desperation fearing the next possible question that Sister Kate may ask._

"_How so?"_

"_Well, you see ma'am..." she cast her eyes to the ground, her limbs fidgeting._

"_Out with it," Kate instructed briefly turning her attention to the child._

"_He has devil blood ma'am."_

_Sister Kate almost dropped Renos in shock; she drew back light blond locks from his face and tucked it behind his ear. Instead of the rounded tip a human child would naturally possess his came to a point. Sliding her fingertips along his cheek, the boy giggled in response; this time she took notice of the pristine teeth that lined his mouth and the exceptionally longer canines. A child his age would be lucky to have at least half of their teeth grown in whereas his were on full display._

_She held Renos out at arms length, he appeared to be a normal toddler, further emphasis was the presence of his large blue orbs that were shining with boundless curiosity; they were now watching her with great interest. Sister Mabel stepped forward taking the child into her arms and held him close. With a yawn he nuzzled up against her chest falling sound asleep._

"_Any child can have deformities like his, how can you be so sure?" Sister Kate pressed forcing her eyes to meet with those of Mabel._

"_We had asked the head of the infirmary if she would run a blood test for us," she began to rock on the balls of her feet leveling a soft gaze upon the boy in her arms. "The reason she didn't report the results directly to you was one of our conditions that she agreed to unconditionally," she looked down at Renos, his sleep filled eyes drooping despite his attempts to stay awake. "We didn't know what to expect in the coming months and we didn't want to risk him being exorcized, especially when we found that he was a half-blood."_

_Sister Kate looked as if she wished to speak but said nothing._

"_When we heard the results of the test we were both shocked and excited," the boy yawned and allowed himself to drift off to sleep, "Azmaria decided to research the phenomenon which was categorized under the name - "_

"_Cambion," finished Sister Kate her face reduced to wooden qualities. "A male half human, half demon child..." She recovered some repose, "Such a thing hasn't been reported in centuries."_

"_Ma'am?" Mabel's voice reverberated with anxiety. Sister Kate stood up pacing over to a small bookshelf that the younger Sister had neglected taking notice of before. She drew a slender finger along the leather bound spines until she came across the volume she had been looking for. Flipping it open with a quick wrist her fingertips flew through aged pages pausing for but a moment before picking up the pace once again. At the back of the book she stopped, holding the book open she showed its contents briefly before taking it back to read aloud._

"_'Cambion, a male cross between a human and a demon. As infants they like their demon parent give off a natural allure that humans can't often resist. Until they come to the age of twelve they are completely dependent upon their parents. _

_It has been presumed that upon the eve of their twelfth the full extent of their demonic powers awaken, but most are unable to cope and destroy themselves during their awakening. It isn't uncommon for cambion to not make it past infancy. _

_The existence of cambion are scarce having appeared more commonly in the middle ages and war. In most cases the demon partner would often kill their mate when they were finished with him or her. A lone woman could be accused of carrying a demon child in her womb when there was no known father to speak of and would thus be condemned.'"_

_Sister Kate closed the book with a finality in her appearance._

_Renos whimpered nuzzling his face deeper into Mabel's chest, small pointed ears twitching. Patting him on the back she was able to calm him._

"_How can it be compiled that they reach their peak at the age of twelve when there were so few known cases to make it past infancy?"_

"_The excerpt I read to you was written in Great Britain just as the empire was beginning to collapse on itself. It was a collaborative effort put together long before the Order had ever existed. A group mothers who had bore demon-child, their tales of their children reside within these leather bindings," Sister Kate held Mabel's gaze. "A majority of the text predates the excerpt I had just read, from the middle ages. Albeit some appear as nothing more than speculation, but they all amount to the same conclusion with similar circumstances repeating in each piece. That I find difficult to swallow but," she paused, Mabel wasn't looking at her anymore. Her amber orbs were focused on Renos, face pale. "Mabel..."_

"_Shut up!" She screamed clutching Renos closer to her chest, "We'll find a way to help him, Azmaria will find a way to restrict his powers. We all want to see him grow up!" Turning abruptly she seized the doorknob and slammed the door behind her._

_Sister Kate sighed, "Of course you do."_

* * *

"Sister Kate you have an incoming call from the San Francisco Branch," reported a Sister over the phone.

"Patch them through," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am," with a few beeps she was greeted by a deep familiar tone.

"Why, hello Sister Kate."

"Father Gilliam, good news I hope," Kate inquired.

"As much a blessing can be seen as a curse," he commented.

"What happened?"

"I'm quite sure that you were informed of the train being derailed seeing as you had contacted my forces to provide help?"

"I haven't been briefed any further than Renos being on the train without his escorts, Sister Azmaria and Sister Madeline. Azmaria had been the one to inform me of that situation, from there I could only assume the worst. What else occurred?"

"It appears that a demon had boarded the train in pursuit of him but it was destroyed before we came upon the scene," he stopped. There was the sound of rustling papers, "According to the report Azmaria wrote up for me the boy was in pretty poor shape when he was pulled from the wreck. 'He was weak and feverish. His clothes were torn and bloodied...body was battered leaving him with a shattered ribcage, and broken leg...'" he flipped a page, "When he arrived at our Branch the nurse here checked on him. She told me that his ribs were mending themselves rather quickly, but she had to set his leg and put it in a splint."

Taking a deep breath, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes. Teresa had been put in charge of watching over him while the other Sisters are busy, this task was appointed by Azmaria herself. To my knowledge the girl hadn't been told much about the incident." he replied.

"Has there been any changes since?"

"None that raised any suspicion Sister."

"I see, then," she murmured to herself, "There has been no reaction?"

"No," answered Gilliam with a blunt tone.

"God bless."

"Same unto you."

Hanging up she laced her fragile fingers together and rested her chin, her eyes stared into a far off place before becoming misty with tears. "For Azmaria's sake I hope that she finds a way to help him, they've both lost so much."

There was a knock on her door, "Ma'am?"

Briskly wiping the droplets from her face she ushered the girl to come in.

"You asked for me," she murmured, head bowed.

"Neither of us are as young as we used to be, but your still young enough to act."

"Ma'am?" the Sister murmured looking up out of puzzlement.

"I'm sending you down to the orphanage ," she held her hand out in front of her as the Sister began to open her mouth. "You'll be going there to act as guardians."

"Guardians?"

"Yes, I'm going to leave it to you to take care of selecting your teammates. There will be ten of you altogether."

"Ma'am."

"Yes?"

"Why ten? And why to the orphanage?" her eyes widened, "Has he come of age?"

"No he hasn't, at least not yet. I had been told that he and Azmaria had arrived in San Francisco successfully but with setbacks," she massaged the bridge of her nose. "I'm sending ten of you to the orphanage to safeguard the children that still live there. It was a gamble taking him out without restraints to hide him from other demons. Your team will prevent demons from approaching the immediate vicinity. You understand?"

"Yes ma'am. Is that all ma'am?" she asked stopping short of preforming a salute.

Sister Kate's face broke into a smile, "Keep a special eye on Joshua. And lastly, allow yourself to relax. This is only a precautionary matter, now go on Mabel."

She smiled, "Yes ma'am!" she called over her shoulder before running out the door.

* * *

_There's no excuse for me to not have written for almost a year so I won't even try to explain._

* * *

_I've finished up with high school and will be heading off to college August 22nd early in the morning and have orientation for about three days (not all day but it might as well be). So from August 22nd -24th I probably won't be on my computer._

* * *

_I'll continue to do parts to get whatever I have out A.S.A.P. each week._

_I'll be able to keep that up until two weeks prior to me going to college so I can make sure that I have everything, k?_

_L8er *-^__^-*_


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